They see what they think is there
by Dellinah
Summary: Kopa never told Simba why he ran away. Simba never told Kion about Kopa. Kopa never told anyone about finding Scar. Scar never told anyone he was alive. Zira never told Simba she didn't kill Kopa. Everyone has secrets; and within secrets there are lies. When Kion finds out that his brother and great uncle are alive, he might find that the truth isn't always what it seems to be.
1. Lost cub

**I've always wanted to write a TLK fanfic, because I have been on that fandom ever since I was a kid. However, I never had an idea that seemed good enough to write about, until now. Yes, this has to do with The Lion Guard and has Kopa as one of the main characters. I know this may be confusing for a first chapter, but I promise you'll get answers very soon.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

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Kopa didn't know for how long he had been running, but he knew it had been more than just a few hours. His legs ached something awful and his throat was dryer than ever before, but he had no plans to stop anytime soon. However, there was only so much his young body could take before he collapsed onto the ground, panting and in pain.

He tried to stand up again, but he was just so tired that his body wouldn't obey. Looking over his shoulder, he sighed when he realized how the Pride Rock was now just a little smudge on the distant horizon behind. The moon was already up on the sky, being the only source of light Kopa had considering that the clouds were covering all of the stars above.

Kopa gulped and then looked ahead, still trying to catch his breath. All he could see were shadows and blurred forms that he assumed to be trees. He was tired to the point where it was starting to muddle his sight and his eyelids kept closing against his will, so he shook his head and tried to see things any clearer, but it didn't work that well.

He knew that he needed to rest if he wanted to keep running in the morning. To be sure nobody would ever find him he needed to keep going until he could no longer see the Pride Rock, until he could no longer see any part of the Pride Lands behind him. Still, falling asleep in the middle of an open field like that could be dangerous. He had no idea what animals lived there, and for a second panic took over him when he realized there could be hyenas there.

That panic gave him enough adrenalin to get up off his paws and run a little more, but he couldn't find anywhere safe to sleep. A lion cub like him would be an easy prey for any predator that felt hungry enough to attack, especially hyenas. As he looked around, searching for any signs of danger, he didn't notice when the ground below him changed from soft grass to sand and some rocks as he entered a dry field, with less trees and a taller, yellow grass that covered some spots here and there.

His lack of attention led him to a misstep when he tripped over a rock and then he fell on the ground again. Kopa shook his head and tried to stand up, but then he noticed a sharp pain on his right front paw. He tried to ignore it and keep on walking, only to let out a cry as he flopped to the ground once more, unable to lean on said paw.

Kopa's jaw dropped in despair when he noticed his paw was twisted in an impossible angle, and he prayed it wouldn't be broken. But even if it wasn't, the pain made it impossible for him to walk any more that night.

He then accepted that that dry spot was going to be his bed for the night. It wasn't very comfortable, but at least there were no signs of any predator. In fact, there didn't seem to be any animals around him, which made him worried for a moment when he remembered how hungry he was. He just hoped that in the morning his paw wouldn't be hurting as much and that he would find something to hunt, even if he wasn't exactly the best hunter there was he should be able to catch something.

He put his head in between his paws and closed his eyes, but he wouldn't fall asleep. His mind was invaded by all the memories and thoughts that he had been trying to avoid, like the reason why he had run away. How could his father do something like that? Fill his head with dreams and hopes his whole life only to break them and tell Kopa he wasn't the chosen one? And why wasn't he the chosen one, anyway? He was the rightful prince, he was the smartest cub; and he knew he could be the fiercest. He could be if he had been given that stupid gift, but no, the Gods were yet to choose the new leader.

And it wasn't him.

Kopa could already feel the tears that were starting to form in the corner of his eyes when he heard a sound and his head shot up, his previous thoughts vanishing away as his instincts took over him. He looked around and lowered the volume of his breath, gulping in fear as he tried to duck as much as he could.

It was the sound of steps, and it was getting louder and louder.

He lowered his head again, trying to hide among the grass, but there wasn't much there to hide him. Kopa cursed for hurting his paw in such an open spot. Even a hyena cub would be able to kill him when he had an injured paw. He felt a cold drop fall on his muzzle and thanked nature for the rain, knowing the water would help to disguise his scent, even if it was just those few drops.

The next thing he heard was the sound of someone sniffing the air, and then more steps. Kopa's heartbeat was so loud that he could hear it clearly, and he knew that whoever was there could hear it too, and he wished he could control his heart.

In the darkness, he saw a blurred shape walking toward him.

His heart stopped beating for a second and Kopa started to cry silently. He tried to stand up one last time, but his paw was just too damaged to do so. His breath quickened and his lip quivered as he shrank in fear, closing his eyes.

The clouds were now covering the moon as well. Kopa was alone in the dark with the creature that was getting closer and closer, and he had nowhere to run and no way to defend himself. He whispered the names of his family and friends, as if that would be enough for them to hear him and come to the rescue, but nobody could hear him. And even if they could, why would they? Kopa had abandoned them.

Almost against his will, he turned his head and opened his eyes.

His eyes locked on the blurred form, and he panted in fear. When the shape got closer a few seconds later, Kopa realized it was a lion. Now, he had never heard of any lions that lived outside the Pride Rock other than the Outlanders, but he wasn't in the Outlands. Who could that be? It couldn't be anyone he knew now, could it? He was too far away from home, and he was sure nobody had seen it when he left. And even if his family had already noticed his absence back home, it would take them more than just a few hours to find him.

It could only be someone who would kill him for entering their territory. Kopa knew that was what most lions did, unlike his dad, who took in whoever needed help. He knew most lions were wild and didn't forgive intruders. He opened his mouth and prepared to apologize or beg for clemency, but he couldn't find his voice.

It seemed to be an eternity before the lion finally got close enough to him and stopped in front of the cub, standing still. The only thing Kopa saw was a pair of bright yellow and green eyes looking down at him, and that made him shiver as he let out a soft noise. Kopa couldn't see what that lion looked like, but he imagined he was baring his teeth or sharpening his claws to attack him.

None of them moved for what felt like forever. Kopa couldn't concentrate on any of the several thoughts going through his mind upon the fear and desperation he felt. What was the lion going to do with him? Why was he just looking down at Kopa instead of just attacking at once?

A cold wind blew across Kopa's face and he closed his eyes to avoid getting something in his eyes. When he opened them, he noticed the surroundings were way clearer, because the wind had managed to move the clouds away from the moon. When Kopa looked up again, his eyes widened at the new view he had of the lion.

Now that a moonbeam shone on his face, Kopa could see what he looked like. His eyes were green like the leaves of trees in spring, and they seemed to shine even more under the moonlight. His fur was brown like dirt and his head was covered by the darkest mane Kopa had ever seen. He had a scar on his left eye and he had lost half of his left ear and it looked like it had been shredded by sharp teeth, so Kopa assumed that lion had been in some fights – which only increased the fear he had of being attacked.

The rain got heavier, and soon there were enough drops falling to make Kopa's tuft of fur on his head wet to the point where a few drops ran down from it to his eyes and he rubbed his face with his paw, but when he did so he let out a cry for moving his injured paw.

The lion's eyes widened at the cub's cry, and then he leaned down a little to take a closer look at Kopa's paw. Kopa's whole body shivered in fear when the lion's breath hit him. After that, the lion straightened himself up and looked around, squinting.

"Are you alone here?"

Kopa gulped and it took him a while to wrap his brain around the lion's question. His voice was deep and he spoke differently than everyone else Kopa had ever heard, as if he was from a completely different place. Kopa wasn't as afraid anymore, for he thought that if the lion wanted him dead he would have killed him already, but he couldn't be sure. Still, now he was calm enough to speak.

"Yeah, I am." He whispered as he looked up at the lion with innocence.

The lion looked to the side and then looked up, as if he was pondering about something. He shook his body to get rid of the water on him and it splashed on Kopa, who sneezed and shook his head to dry it. After that, the lion sighed and leaned down again. Kopa gasped when he felt the lion's sharp teeth close tightly around his neck, and closed his eyes to wait for his death, hoping it would at least be fast enough not to be painful.

But the lion didn't bite him. Instead, he carefully held the back of Kopa's neck with his teeth and lifted him from the ground. He then turned around and started to walk. Kopa tilted his head in confusion. He looked up at the lion and saw that he looked straight ahead. When Kopa looked in the same direction, he saw they were walking toward a cave.

"Are you going to kill me?" Kopa asked, yet not as scared of the answer as he thought he would be.

The lion let out a small chuckle; still he didn't smile when he did so. "For now, I'll just get you out of this rain." He said through his clenched teeth, being careful not to open his mouth enough to drop Kopa.

Kopa sighed in relief and then looked over his shoulder. He could see the Pride Lands and the Pride Rock, yet it was so small that he wouldn't know it was the Pride Rock if he hadn't come from there. It came to him that it was no longer his home. A lightning stroke and lit up the sky for a few seconds, allowing Kopa to see the lion's scar and half ear again. He could also see that they were very close to the cave, meaning they would be safe from the rain very soon.

"Thank you." Kopa said, looking up at the lion.

The lion didn't say anything. He just nodded slightly and kept walking; speeding up when he noticed the rain was getting heavier.

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 **Seriously, it's not a mystery who that lion is, is it?**

 **Well, thank you for reading. Let me know your thoughts if you feel like it. See yah next chapter, I hope you liked this!**


	2. A gift

**Hello guys!**

 **Merry Christmas! (Well, it's Christmas where I am) I wanted to write a happy chapter about Kion and Kiara or anything like that, but then I had this idea and just couldn't help myself. This story is going to get deep about Taka/Scar and his feelings and past, and also about his relationship with Kopa; so I just felt like I had to write more about him before the story actually starts.**

 **I know that so far his story has been mostly thoughts and flashbacks, and I hope you guys don't find it boring or anything; but I promise we will get to the actual story really soon. So far, I plan to get it started next chapter!**

 **Also, I changed the rating of this story to T. Even though I don't plan to write anything too explicit, I feel like the themes I plan to bring up later on can be considered a little dark. Well, better safe than sorry.**

 **Well, this is pretty much chapter one but with Taka's POV. I hope you guys enjoy it!**

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During the time he had spent living alone after he had run away from the Pridelands, Taka realized that he had gone emotionless.

His past was filled with emotions, and he just abhorred his past. Perhaps that was the reason why he didn't allow himself to feel anything anymore. Emotions, especially regret and jealousy, had never done anything to him other than causing him pain; and he hated pain because it made him feel weak. It was only logical that he would start avoiding something that had harmed him so badly.

However, there was a difference between not wanting emotions and not being able to have them at all; and one day Taka realized that even if he actually wanted, he could no longer feel anything. Not joy, not sadness, nothing. The only thing he had now was this unceasing emptiness inside him that followed him like a shadow. As much as it had harmed him, sometimes he wished he could feel again.

But Taka's heart became a cold stone; never to be warm again.

Or so he thought, until life gave him a gift.

* * *

Taka was in his cave, gnawing on a bone as he tried to enjoy what little food he had manage to get that day when he realized how late it was and decided to get some rest. He tossed the dry bone out of his cave and made himself comfortable, lying down next to the entrance. However, before he could doze off, a strong and cold wind blew across his body, causing him to shiver. It didn't help that he was so skinny.

With a sigh and a groan, he stood up and turned around. He planned to walk until the very end of the cave to be sheltered from the cold, but he froze in place before he could even take his first step when he heard a cry. It was the cry of a lion cub, to be exact.

It came from outside the cave, but it seemed to be nearby. Taka looked over his shoulder, but didn't see anything other than grass and trees. He raised an eyebrow and turned his body, walking to the entrance of the cave. Once he was there, he looked from side to side, squinting as he tried to adjust his sight to see better in such darkness.

Even if Taka was sure he had heard a cry, he thought that maybe his ears were playing tricks on him, for he didn't see any lion cub around. Or maybe his ears were starting to fail like his legs due to his old age, despite the fact that he wasn't even gray yet. Also, he knew he was the only lion to live in that land; a cub there didn't make any sense. Still, he stood there and searched a little more. Just when he was about to give up, his nostrils were invaded by a smell he hadn't felt ever since he left the Pridelands. It was the scent of another lion.

His body begged him to get some rest, but it was almost like something was calling Taka and asking him to leave the cave; and so he did. He wandered around aimlessly for a while in the cold night, trying to track down where that smell was coming from. He cursed when it started to rain, thinking that it would make him lose track of the lion he was trying to find; and decided to give up since it was now a lost cause.

Call it destiny or fate, he decided to sniff the air one more time and that was enough to guide him in the right direction right before the smell got lost among the raindrops. His eyes fell upon a blurred shape lying on the ground, and after a few seconds of staring he was able to see it was indeed a lion cub. He searched the surroundings for any signs of the parents, but there were no footsteps, no smell, nobody.

Whoever that cub was, it was alone.

 _Turn around_ , his brain commanded him. _Turn around and walk away_.

That's what he would have done if he were thinking straight. In fact, Taka didn't understand why he had even bothered to go check on that cub in the first place, considering how he never cared for nobody other than himself. Who cared if there was an abandoned cub there? It wasn't his cub; it was none of his business. He should just do as his instincts told him to do and go back home to get the rest he longed. Yeah, that was what he was going to do.

Then Taka found himself walking toward the cub instead.

The closer he got, the clearer the lion cub's image became. Taka walked until he was right in front of the cub and stopped to look down at it.

The first thing he saw was the cub's eyes. They were blue like the sky above, and those eyes looked up at him in fear and confusion. Taka smiled slightly when the cub let out a noise and shrank in fear, amused at the cub.

Taka stood still as he analyzed the cub in front of him. It was indeed a male, and he already had a good amount of fur on his head despite his young age. Taka was at least six months older than that cub when his mane started to grow like that, but maybe it was just because Taka had always been malnourished. Taka knew that he was already old enough to eat and walk by himself, but certainly not old enough to take care of himself or even hunt. If left alone, that cub would die within weeks or even days.

The cub closed his eyes when a cold draft blew across his face while Taka looked up at the sky, hoping that wind would move the clouds away from the moon and provide them some more light. His wishes were granted and when he looked down again, he was able to see the cub's fur and mane color, and noticed that he reminded him of someone...

Taka was still analyzing the cub when he felt the rain getting heavier and some drops fell on his back. The cub was getting wet too, and used his paw to wipe his face. However, as soon as he did so, he let out a cry.

With the moon providing more light, Taka was able to see that the cub's paw wasn't ok. He leaned down to get a closer look and almost felt bad for scaring the cub when he did so. Almost.

After one last try to find the cub's parents, Taka looked down at him again. "Are you alone here?"

The cub gulped and was in silence for a while. Taka was starting to question if he had even heard his question when he answered in a tiny voice, "Yeah, I am."

Taka started to ponder. If the cub was alone that meant there were no adults around, so Taka didn't have to worry about being in danger or having to fight. He could go back home in peace and sleep, knowing he would still be alive when the morning came. Alone and with an injured paw, that cub was sure to die soon. He would either starve to death or become someone's lunch. Perchance he would die that night from hypothermia, since the rain was getting heavier by the minute. Either way, Taka didn't have to worry about him becoming a threat.

Still, Taka didn't want to leave him there. He certainly didn't feel _sorry_ for the cub, but the thought of seeing such a young cub die in such horrible ways just made Taka feel… Bad. It wasn't exactly an emotion, but it was more than he had felt in a long time.

There was a little voice in the back of his mind yelling at him and telling him to just forget that cub and go home when he took the cub in his mouth and carried him to his cave to give him a safe place to sleep that night.

"Are you going to kill me?" The cub questioned, awkwardly calm.

Taka let out a soft chuckle. So that was the reason he was so scared, he thought Taka had intentions to kill him; something Taka didn't consider. Well, he did consider leaving him alone to die, but that wasn't exactly killing. Not in Taka's point of view.

"For now, I'll just get you out of this rain." He said as he rushed to the cave.

"Thank you." He heard the cub say.

It was the last thing any of them said for a while. As soon as Taka got them in the cave, safe from the rain, he carefully leaned down and put the cub on the floor, being careful not to damage his paw even more. After making sure the cub was fine, Taka turned around and walked to the other side of the cave, lying across the cub. He checked on him one last time and saw that he was licking his paw.

 _Well, I already brought him inside to a safe place, which is way more than I should have done._ Taka thought to himself. _If I wake up and he's dead or gone, I'll have no guilty whatsoever._

Taka was satisfied with his little heroic act, even if he hadn't bothered to check if the cub was hungry, or cold, or if he needed help with his paw. He had just given him a place to sleep, but for Taka, he had already sacrificed himself. After that, Taka put his head between his paws and closed his eyes.

He was about to doze off when Taka felt something nudge against his side. Startled, his head shot up, but he calmed down when he saw the cub had walked up to him and now was sleeping curled up against his body, probably trying to get some heat.

Taka rolled his eyes and moved his paw to push the cub away, but stopped when he touched his little body. He must have been pretty tired, for he had already fallen asleep. And he was sleeping deeply, because Taka's touch didn't disturb his slumber at all.

Taka moved his paw away from the cub and just watched him as he slept peacefully against Taka's body.

At first, Taka had planned to get rid of the cub as soon as the dawn came. Not like killing him, he just thought of taking him somewhere else or anything like that. But to that moment, _keeping_ the cub had never been an option.

The cub didn't give him any kind of emotion. He didn't smile at him; he didn't find him adorable; he didn't even feel sorry for an abandoned cub. It was kind of disappointing. Still, it came to him that he didn't want that cub to die.

Not that he suddenly loved the cub or anything like that, but he gave Taka a sense of responsibility. Almost as if he was a gift given him to help Taka get rid of his emptiness.

"You're going to need someone to watch you until you're old enough to do it yourself. A cub can't possibly get by alone, especially here in these lands." Taka said.

As far as he was concerned, Taka was all that that cub had in the world and nobody was going to protect him but Taka. Now, he had a new purpose in his life: to keep that kid safe and sound, no matter what.

Taka knew it wasn't going to be easy. Even if he wasn't a father himself, he had witnessed all of his brother's fatherhood and knew it required commitment and sacrifice. He would have to find food for the two of them – and maybe even give up on his own sometimes in order to give the cub enough food to grow up strong, keep an eye on him to make sure he wouldn't get into trouble, and teach him how to hunt and everything else.

It was really going to be a pain, but Taka didn't feel like giving up.

He looked out of the cave and stared at the stars, wondering if his father was watching him from above. Taka always thought that his father would only watch over Mufasa and Simba, not over him. After all, Ahadi almost let Taka die when he was alive; why would he watch him now that he was gone? He never cared for Taka.

Taka shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and then looked back at the cub who slept by his side. Without thinking at all, he wrapped his tail around him to make sure he was warm and then laid his head down to finally get some sleep.

Perhaps one of the reasons why he suddenly wanted to keep that cub was to prove to himself – and to his father, if he were watching him – that he could be a better father than Ahadi ever was to him.

Taka was going to raise that cub, and he was going to show Ahadi he was better than him.

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 **I hope you guys liked this chapter! Writing thoughts and backstories is hard, but it was necessary to the story.**

 **Also, the updates may be slower from now on, both because of holidays and because I need to figure out what I'm going to write next. If everything goes as planned, the next chapter will get the story started. It may also be longer than the chapters I've published so far.**

 **Thanks for reading, see you soon!**


	3. An unusual roar

**I wasn't really sure of how I should start this chapter; I hope I did the right choice. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I hope you like chapter three!**

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At first, Kiara wondered where her older brother was.

She was pretty much just a baby who had just started to walk when Kopa was still around, but Kiara could remember him. He was a pale shade of yellow and had a huge tuft of fur on the top of his head. Said tuft was red, but not like their dad's mane. It was a very darker shade of red. She could also remember his eyes looking down at her, eyes that were blue like their mother's; and she could never forget his smile and his voice as he called her to play.

One day, however, he wasn't there when Kiara woke up. Kiara was still too young to fully understand the concept of time, but after two days she did realize it had been too long since she had last seen him. She also noticed her dad and her mom were acting weird. Her dad would leave before the sun had risen and come back after it had set, and so would her mom; leaving it to Timon and Pumbaa to watch the princess. However, even they were acting different. They weren't smiling like usual, and if she tried to play with them, they would just sigh and say "Not now, Kiara."

Kiara wondered why everyone was suddenly so sad and so worried, but she spent most of her time looking for Kopa so she didn't really know what was happening. One day, while she was trying to find her brother, she saw her dad having a huge fight with a lioness. After that, Kiara never saw that lioness and her cubs again. They weren't her best friends or anything like that, but she liked to play with them.

After a while, things were slowly starting to come back to what they were before. Her mom and dad stopped leaving the Pride Rock for the whole day. Timon and Pumbaa started to play with her again. Simba didn't fight with anyone else.

Still, Kopa hadn't returned.

Kiara then realized that nobody ever talked about him. She did try to ask Rafiki what was happening, but for the first time he didn't have an answer. He just sighed, stroked her head and said that one day, she would understand. A few days later, Simba told Kiara he would start to prepare her to be queen. Kiara was confused, but all Simba said was that Kopa wouldn't be able to take the throne anymore, so now that was her responsibility. When Kiara tried to ask her father about him, Simba turned around and walked away.

Not long after that, her mother announced that she was pregnant again. For the first time ever since Kiara had last seen her older brother, she saw everyone around her smile true. Even her dad, who she had witnessed crying every night for almost a month after Kopa was gone, was happy again.

At first, Kiara wasn't too thrilled about having a new cub around. She already had a sibling who she loved very much, Kopa; she didn't need a new one. Sure, she hadn't seen Kopa in a huge time and she didn't understand where he was, but she still had hopes he would be back soon.

A hundred moons flew right past, and soon Kiara's new brother arrived. He was born during the hottest hour of the day, unlike Kopa, who had been born in the coldest hour of the night. Kiara had to admit he was pretty cute, with his livid yellow fur that resembled the sun and bright red mane that went well with his amber eyes. If she wasn't happy about a new sibling before, she slowly started to change her mind after Kion – as her parents decided to call him – was born.

And then, Kiara stopped to think so much about her older brother as her hopes of ever seeing him again started to decrease until they were gone.

Kopa became just a faint memory lost in the back of her mind. Each day that passed she would have less and less memories of the blue eyed cub. She never understood what happened to him, the same way she never understood what happened on the Pride Lands the day he disappeared; but now that everything was finally alright again, she didn't see a reason to bring the topic up and make everyone sad again. Especially considering how nobody was willing to talk about him.

And with a new cub to take care of, perhaps it was time for her to stop worrying about the past and focus on the present.

Maybe it was time to forget Kopa.

* * *

Kion watched in horror as the hyenas captured his friend Bunga.

He knew the hyenas didn't care that he was just a honey badger cub; they would kill him in the cruelest of ways and enjoy doing it. Calling Simba to help him wasn't an option either, he was too far away and Kion wouldn't be able to run that fast. And fighting the hyenas himself would never work; trying would just give them an extra prey.

Kion looked down and frowned at his incompetence. The hyenas making fun of him was hurting his pride and he couldn't even come up with an answer, because everything they said was true. He was afraid of the Outlands, he was afraid of hyenas, he was afraid of getting into trouble with his dad if he didn't obey his orders.

He really was a 'fraidy cat.

"Janja needs his lunch!" The hyena that wasn't holding Bunga in his mouth said. Bunga was filled with terror, and so was Kion. However, that terror didn't make him feel afraid like he expected. Instead, he felt his heart pounding hard against his chest and he gained new strength, alongside a feeling that was new to him.

"No!" Kion yelled, narrowing his eyes and positioning his body as if he was about to catch a prey, "Let… Him… Go!"

When he said the last word, Kion was taken by his instincts and he roared, a roar like nobody had ever heard. He kept roaring until there was no air left in his lungs, but he felt so strong that he didn't even need to stop to catch his breath. Kion didn't even realize what he was doing as he did it; he just needed to let his roar out.

The Earth seemed to shake like an earthquake. Kion didn't see it, but the hyenas and Bunga were appalled when the clouds above literally turned into roaring lions. In shock, they released Bunga, who didn't waste a second and jumped out of the Outlands.

It was only after Kion had stopped roaring that he realized what he had done, how loud his roar had been – and that he had actually roared. For being so young, all he could do was this squeak sound that sounded more like a chipmunk than a lion.

"Heyvi kabisa!" Kion exclaimed, looking around, "What was that?"

* * *

Kopa was going back home after he had successfully captured two rabbits that he carried in his mouth when he stopped in his tracks, scared.

"Nyasi yangu!" He exclaimed in shock. Below his paws, the Earth shook so hard that some rocks jumped out of their place; and he heard a roar that certainly belonged to a lion, but it was very unusual. That one was way louder and way stronger than anything he had ever heard, and Kopa gulped in fear when he imagined how big and strong the lion who had roared was.

He knew that he and his master were the only lions to live in that land, so that meant there were new lions around; and that could only mean trouble. It was unusual for lions to ever travel out of their territory; they only did it if they intended to conquer new lands. And that meant fighting and killing any lion that lived in the land they wanted.

Now, Kopa had grown into a very strong teenager lion, but he still wouldn't be able to defeat an adult if he was attacked. He looked around slowly and with caution, searching for any signs of danger. Then, he jumped when he heard a twig snap nearby. Kopa straightened up and turned sharply, his ears folding back and his eyes narrowing as he lowered himself into a crouch, the short mane he had stood on his neck and he growled as he bared his teeth.

The noise revealed to be just a rabbit when it jumped out of a bush, and Kopa rolled his eyes as he left his attack position and sighed in relief. He looked around again, but there was no sound to be heard and nobody to be seen. Still, he made his best to walk as silently as possible as he grabbed the dead rabbits again and went back to walking, always looking around.

He soon spotted the cave where he lived in and ran inside it. He began to think that, if there really were new lions around that could mean his master was in danger. He was ready to attack if his suspicions were correct, but he was glad to see he was wrong.

The old lion was alone in the cave, lying on the ground. He lifted his head and opened his eyes when he heard Kopa arrive.

"I'm sorry, Asante; I didn't mean to wake you up." Kopa said as he approached the lion, carefully dropping his hunt in front of the elder. "I shouldn't have been so noisy when I ran here."

"I wasn't sleeping, Kipawa." Taka said as he stood up, walking right past the rabbits and walking to the front of the cave. He stood on the entrance and looked from side to side, then looked over his shoulder to look at Kopa. "I was worried about you. I thought I heard a roar that certainly wasn't yours and thought you could be in trouble."

"You heard right," Kopa said as he lay down on the floor and grabbed one of the rabbits, "Someone roared, and it wasn't me. I looked for any other lions, but I didn't find anyone. Still, we better be careful."

"I didn't see any other lion either, which is weird. Considering how loud that roar was I thought they would be close enough to be seen." Taka seemed suspicious for a while, but shrugged it off and turned around to walk toward Kopa. He was only a few steps away from the young lion when his back leg bent against his will and he let out a cry, supporting all his weight on the front legs as he tried not to fall on the ground.

"Asante!" Kopa exclaimed, standing up and jumping to Taka's side. He stood by the side of the elder lion and allowed him to lean on him so that he wouldn't fall.

Taka grumbled and pushed Kopa away as soon as he had recovered his balance. "Thank you, but I'm fine!" He hated to admit that he needed someone's help to do a simple task like standing up, but his legs no longer worked like they used to; especially his back leg that had a huge scar on the knee and gave in from time to time, causing him to fall.

Kopa stood still like a guardian, ready to help again if Taka needed him; and didn't leave that post until Taka was lying safe on the floor. Once the elder was settled and had begun to eat, Kopa walked around him and lay in front of him, taking the other rabbit in his paws before he started to chew on it.

Taka swallowed the portion he had been chewing and sighed, looking down at the prey he had in front of him. "You're a good lion, Kipawa. Thank you for hunting for me, since I obviously can't do that anymore." Taka looked back at his leg and rolled his eyes.

Kopa blinked in surprise and then smiled. "You're welcome, Asante." He was about to go back to eating when his eyes fell upon Taka's leg, more precisely on the scar he had on it. Taka never really told much about his past and made it very clear that he wasn't willing to tell more than what he had already told, but that didn't mean Kopa wasn't curious. "Hey, Asante… How did that happen?"

Taka frowned for a second and then went back to eating. "That's not important, _Kopa_." He said with his mouth full as he scratched the floor with his claws like he did whenever he was angry or stressed.

Kopa's eyes widened as he mouthed "Sorry" and bit his rabbit again, avoiding Taka's eyes at all costs.

When Taka called him by his real name, it meant he had crossed the line.

* * *

 **Maybe some of you don't know, but most of the names we see in TLK are actual words in Swahili. Simba, for example, means Lion. So I just thought it would be cool to give them some Swahili expressions and words. Kipawa means "gift", Asante means "Thank you" and "Nyasi yangu" means something like "My jungle" or "My grass."**

 **After all, if Kion says "Heyvi kabisa" and Bunga says "Zuka Zama" all the time (Not to mention the Hakuna Matata), why can't Kopa have a catch phrase too?**

 **The reason why Taka and Kopa don't use their real names when talking to each other will be explained later on, as well as why they chose the nicknames they use, although that may be obvious. I know this chapter probably didn't answer any questions that you may have had in the first one, but I'll let you know that that will change soon.**

 **Thanks for reading, leave a review if you feel like it! See yah soon :)**


	4. The new leader

**So, this is pretty much the first chapter of this story that isn't focused on thoughts or backstories, I hope I did alright with the dialog. This is where the stories start to diverge. Also, to DragnFN-01: you could never irritate me with your reviews! And thanks to everyone who's followed/favorited/reviewed this so far!**

 **I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

"I'm afraid it's a story without a happy ending." Simba said with a worried look on his face.

Kion watched as his father walked up to a wall that was all scrawled. He was still confused, trying to wrap his brain around everything he had just learnt. Then Simba looked to Rafiki, who nodded and used his staff to touch one of the drawings on the wall. When he did so, the drawing seemed to come to life: the lines got thicker and the colors got brighter as if someone had just drawn that, and Kion could swear he saw it moving.

"Whoa." Both Kion and Bunga exclaimed at what they saw.

Kion approached Simba and sat down beside his father to listen to what he had to say.

"When your grandfather Mufasa, my father, was about your age, his younger brother Scar became the leader of the lion guard, which means he also had the gift of the roar, like you do now, and that made him feel powerful. So powerful, that he began to think that he should be king, instead of his older brother Mufasa. So he asked the lion guard to help him take down Mufasa."

Kion shook his head in disbelief. "Wait, he did what? But that is treason! They didn't do it, right?"

Rafiki motioned for Kion to wait, and so Simba started to speak again.

"It seems that the other members of the guard knew better than to use their talents for evil. Yes, they refused to take the king down, but that made Scar furious. And then, Scar used the roar to destroy the guard, planning to use it later to defeat his own brother. However, what Scar didn't know is that by using the roar for evil, he would lose it, forever. And then, the guard died out… Until now."

It was beyond Kion how someone could be so evil, and it got even worse when he realized he was related to such lion. Even if he didn't know Scar, he already despised him. Kion even gave a step back to increase the distance there was between him and the drawings of Scar on the wall.

"What happened to Scar?"

Simba looked to Rafiki, who shook his head.

"That… That is a story for another time, Kion. Someday, when you're older, I'll tell you and Kiara all about Scar and what he did. I'm afraid he made even more than _just_ destroying the lion guard. But I'll let you know he passed away long ago, and you don't have to be afraid or anything like that."

Before Kion could ask anything else, Rafiki approached him. "The roar is a very powerful gift. It can be used for great good, but it can lead you to great evil. Such is the way of power, Kion; it swiftly takes hold of the mind of its host. Like what happened to Scar. And with someone else…"

Kion tilted his head at the sad way Rafiki said the last sentence. He even looked to the side when he said it, avoiding Kion's eyes. Kion looked at Simba, waiting for some kind of explanation, but his father was looking at Rafiki with an angry expression.

"Rafiki, I don't think Kion needs to know about him…"

"If he's the new leader of the lion guard, he has to know all about it," Rafiki said, sighing as he tightened the grip he was giving on his staff, "The only way to avoid repeating old mistakes in the future is knowing what caused them in the past. Kion has to know about him."

Kion's confusion grew more and more with each sentence they said. He looked from Rafiki to Simba and then shook his head. "Enough with all the secrecy stuff! Who are you two talking about?"

Simba looked to Rafiki one more time, and then looked at the wall before finally looking down at Kion. Then Simba sighed and nodded toward the wall. They all watched it as Rafiki used his staff to touch a drawing that Kion hadn't noticed so far. As the drawing took form, Kion realized it depicted a young lion cub that looked a lot like him.

"Your older brother, Kopa." Simba said, staring blankly at the wall.

Kion felt like the ground under his paws was about to give in and he was about to be sucked into a hole and fall face first. He had heard what his father had said, but it was almost like he had spoken in a language Kion didn't know, for he just couldn't seem to process that new information. For a while, all Kion did was look at the wall in silence.

"My what?!" Kion exclaimed at last, sharply turning his head to look at his father.

"His what?" Bunga asked simultaneity.

"Dad, that… That doesn't make any sense." Kion let out a nervous chuckle and shook his head. "I don't have an older brother. Kiara is the only sibling I have! I don't…"

"I'm afraid I never told you about him, Kion. And deep inside, I hoped I would never need to." Simba sat down in front of the drawing of Kopa, letting out a sigh as his eyes got watery. Then he leaned his forehead against the wall and closed his eyes; a tear escaping them and running down his face.

Rafiki sighed and poked Bunga, motioning for them to leave the lair and let Simba and Kion alone. Bunga resisted at first, but then sighed and started to walk away behind the monkey.

"See yah, Kion." He whispered right before he left, leaving Kion alone with Simba.

The right thing to do seemed to be wait until his father talked out of free will, but Kion's curiosity was growing inside of him like a tiny flame that became a huge fire in a matter of seconds. After some silence, Kion cleaned his throat.

"Dad, I'm sorry, I just don't get it." He looked at the wall. "I think I get what the lion guard is supposed to be, but I don't get…"

Simba sighed again as he stepped away from the wall, yet he kept looking at the drawing instead of looking at Kion.

"A few months after I became king, your mother got pregnant of your brother, Kopa, our first son. The previous king hadn't been very wise with taking care of the kingdom, and therefore your brother was born in a dry, destroyed land; with little food and almost no water. Those were rough times, and he had to face them from birth."

"The king before you took the Pride Lands to ruin?" Kion questioned. "But you always tell us about what a great king Mufasa was."

Simba finally faced Kion as he continued. "Mufasa, well… He really was a great king. So great that I doubt anyone will ever be able to be as great as he was. But he wasn't exactly the king who ruled before me."

"No? But… You're his son, how didn't you…"

Simba interrupted. "The king who ruled after Mufasa and before me was Scar."

Kion's eyes widened at the revelation. "What?! So not only he destroyed the lion guard, but he also destroyed the Pride Lands? That… It doesn't make any sense! How did he even get to be king? It's always the elder who take the throne, and unless Mufasa didn't have an heir, Scar should never have gotten to be king! But Mufasa had you! I don't…"

"Kion!" Simba interrupted. With the shock, the cub fell sitting on the floor. "Look, I know you're confused, but these are facts I'm telling you. As for Scar's kingdom, it is a really long story that you'll have to wait until you're older if you really want to know about it."

"But…" Kion said as he stood up. He looked up at his father's serious eyes and then hung his head, folding his ears. "Very well, dad. I will wait. So… What were you saying about my brother?"

Simba nodded and then frowned again. Kion noticed he did it every time Kopa was even mentioned, as if talking about his first cub brought great pain to him. "I was saying that your brother was born during the worst drought the Pride Lands have ever been through to this day. Even as a cub, he had to help us with everything and hunt for the even younger cubs. He never really had the chance to enjoy his childhood."

Kion imagined how life would be if all he had were responsibilities and that made him feel icky.

"Still," Simba continued with a small smile, "He never complained. In fact, he seemed to rather like it that he had such an important role in the kingdom, other than being a prince and next in line. He used to make me very proud… And I knew that, one day, he would be the leader of the lion guard. Anyone could plainly see that, even without the roar, he was the fiercest lion there was."

"Fiercest lion there was…" Kion whispered in awe. "But what happened to him?"

Kion's question made Simba scrunch his eyes closed as he bit his lower lip, and the cub felt sorry for asking, but it was too late to take his words back.

"Well, Kion…" Simba swallowed the knot he felt in his throat. "When Kopa was just a little older than you are now, a few weeks after Kiara was born and the Pride Lands had returned to its original glory, he disappeared. We spent days looking for him, searching everywhere we could… But we never found him."

Kion's heart felt heavy. He had a brother that he had never heard of and that was missing. Not only that, his own great uncle had been responsible for almost destroying the place Kion had for a home. It was too much information at once.

"After we searched for a long time, it was revealed that a lioness who was still a faithful follower of Scar had… Well, she…" Simba looked at Kion as if he was afraid of saying a swear word in front of a cub. Then, he sighed. "She wanted revenge against me for taking Scar's place as the king. And she had said revenge by killing your brother. She supposedly took the chance to kill him while he was trying to help someone, for he thought that being fierce meant he could do anything by himself. I suppose the power also went to his head… Kind of like Scar, but not as bad."

Kion's jaw dropped, his heart sank inside his chest and he gave a step back. Now, he also had tears on the corner of his eyes. Kopa wasn't just a brother he didn't know about, he was a brother he would never come to meet, ever. Even if he didn't know Kopa, he felt like crying over his death.

"I'm sorry, father." Kion said, whispering with a shaky voice.

"You see, Kion, Kopa was going to be the original new leader of the new lion guard. But now that it has chosen you, it can only mean that a lot of him is in you. In a way, Kopa is part of who you are."

"Really? That's so cool!" Kion smiled at the idea of having his brother so close to him, but then frowned. "I wish I had met him."

"I know you do," Simba said, smiling at Kion, "But he lives in you. And I'm sure he's watching over us right now. Just as I'm sure he's going to be proud of his little brother now that you are the leader of the new lion guard."

"I'm the what?"

"You are the leader of the new lion guard. And now, I need you to assemble the Pride Lands' bravest, fastest, strongest, and keenest of sight." Simba said, trying to encourage Kion and get him to smile again. "Just like your brother would have done. It's up to you to finish what he never had the chance to start."

Kion smiled as new strength took over him after his father's words. "Okay, dad, I got it!" He said before jumping toward the exit. "Don't worry; I'm going to make you proud! I'm going to make you and Kopa proud!" He looked up at the sky before finally leaving the lion guard lair.

Simba watched it as the cub left and smiled, "I know you will, my son."

* * *

The sun had started to go down as the end of the day grew near, and the sky slowly changed from a shining orange to a brilliant gold. In a few hours, darkness would take over and the moon would bid everyone goodnight.

Kopa watched the sky and everything else from inside the cave, looking over his shoulder from time to time to check on Taka, who slept peacefully behind the younger lion. Some would say Kopa was way too paranoid about Taka's wellbeing, but he was all Kopa had in this world. If necessary, he was willing to give up on his own life to protect his master.

A cold wind blew, meaning that soon it would be nighttime. Kopa snapped out of his thoughts and stood up, realizing that he wasn't tired enough considering he would have to sleep in just a few hours. Being a teenager, he had a lot of energy that he needed to spend. He looked down at his paws, springing out his claws, and noticed that he needed to sharp them as well.

Kopa walked over to Taka and watched him as he slept. Taka seemed to be fine and it didn't seem that he was going to wake up anytime soon, so Kopa turned around to leave the cave. He made sure to walk on the softest parts of his paws so that he wouldn't be too noisy while walking and wouldn't disturb Taka's sleep. He just needed to be sure to be back before Taka woke up.

"Kipawa?" A raspy voice called from behind Kopa.

Kopa stopped on his tracks and mentally cursed, closing his eyes. He then turned around again to face Taka, who was still lying on the floor but had his head lifted to look at Kopa. Taka took a deep breath and then yawned, stretching his body before finally standing up to approach Kopa.

"I'm sorry, Asante." Kopa said as he gave an apologetic smile and walked into the cave again. "You have a really good hearing; it doesn't matter how hard I try to be silent, you wake up. Is there anything you need? Anything I can do for you?" He asked; trying to distract Taka from the question Kopa knew he would ask.

When Taka looked at him with a serious expression, Kopa knew his distraction plan hadn't worked. "Where were you going?" Taka raised an eyebrow. Kopa gulped and sighed, for he knew his master didn't like it when he left without any kind of notice, and he hated to upset Taka.

"Hum, well, I don't know. I just… I need to run a little. Maybe I could hunt our dinner a little earlier today. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving, but I know how much you need to rest and I didn't want to disturb you."

Taka's frown slowly faded as he smiled. "Kipawa, I may be getting old but it's not like I was going to die if you woke me up or anything like that."

Kopa smiled as well and sighed. "I'm sorry, Asante. Still, I don't think you should leave or tire yourself unless it's absolutely necessary or anything like that." He sighed and looked out of the cave. "Remember the roar we heard earlier? Well, what if the owner appears and decides to fight? You wouldn't be able to fight, and running could damage your leg even more. Or maybe it could fail when you were trying to run and it would make you an easy prey. All I want to do is keep you safe."

Kopa gave an assuring nod and stood upright in a confident pose, which caused Taka to smile again as he looked down at Kopa. He surely had grown into the strongest teenager lion Taka had ever seen, even stronger than Mufasa; and chances were he was already stronger and heavier than Taka despite his young age. Taka was still taller than him, but if he kept growing at the rate he was growing that was going to change soon. Still, he was only that: a teenager lion.

"Kipawa," Taka said as he shook his head, walking past Kopa and exiting the cave, "I hope you're aware that if we perchance have to face an enemy, both you and I will be doomed. You're way too young and I am way too old, we would never be able to escape the attack of a young adult lion if he was willing to kill us."

"Well, if that's the case you should listen to me and stay in the cave to _avoid_ an attack rather than go out for nothing at all. I may not be able to fight an adult, but I'm surely able to run really fast."

Taka shook his head. "I've been in that cave for way too long now, Kipawa. I may not have the energy you have, but I do have the need to sharpen my claws every once in a while, you know. You forget that I was the one who taught you everything you know, I can take care of myself. Besides, we still haven't seen any other lions around, and I don't feel any scent other than yours and mine. I'd say we're safe." He turned his back on Kopa and started to walk. When he realized he wasn't hearing Kopa's steps, he looked over his shoulder and saw the young lion standing still. "Are you coming or what?"

Kopa looked at the cave and then at Taka multiple times. A little voice inside his head still told him not to let Taka go out like that, especially with the threat of having another lion around. But then, his rational part took over and he realized that he was overreacting. Taka was right; even if they had heard a roar, they hadn't seen anything or anyone that could cause any harm. They should be alright.

"Right behind yah," Kopa said as he jumped and started to walk by Taka's side, ready to help if Taka needed him.

* * *

 **So, you guys know the scene in The Lion King where Simba, Timon and Pumbaa are crossing that log and Simba grows like cub-teen-adult? Kopa is supposed to be as old as Simba was in that middle stage. Kion and Kiara are almost the same age, but Kopa is way older than them. At least that's how I like to see things.**

 **I was awake the whole night writing this, so I think I'll get some sleep now XD**

 **Thanks for reading, see yah next chapter!**


	5. Lonely star

**Happy new year, everybody! I hope you all had a great day!**

 **Yes, I've watched the first episode of the series. So far, I don't think the episodes will have that much influence on this fic, at least not as much as the movie will. But the fear Kion has of being as bad as Scar will be something I already planned on bringing up, and it'll be of great importance for the story.**

 **Also, be aware that Taka's character has gone through major changes from his cannon personality and that will be explained later.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Careful, Asante." Kopa said from bellow as he watched his master climb a tree. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Taka rolled his eyes at Kopa's usual paranoia as he went up the tree, looking around. It was something he would do whenever he was out of his cave, and it had proved to be quite a useful ability to have. He would climb trees and easily see any prey that was nearby, and so Kopa would hunt it for them.

When he was a cub, Kopa used to climb trees with Taka after the older taught him how to do it. But as he grew up and started getting more mass, climbing trees had become too hard, so he stayed on the ground while Taka went up. The fact that Kopa couldn't be by his master's side anymore made him extremely nervous.

"See anything?" Kopa asked, already lowering himself to hide among the grass.

"Hum, no; not yet." Taka replied, looking around. "Not from here, anyway." After he said that, he jumped from the branch he was to another one that was a little higher. His weight made the branch rattle and Kopa heard the rustle of leaves. However, the noise he heard next made his heart speed up.

Taka let out a cry as the branch he was on gave in with his weight and broke, taking the lion to the ground with it.

"Asante!" Kopa yelled.

Taka was lying on the ground after he had fallen, a scene that Kopa had been forced to watch without being able to help and that brought him horror. He was so scared that he froze in place for a few seconds, and only snapped out of it when he heard Taka grunting, struggling to stand up.

"Stupid branch." Taka muttered to himself as he got up and kicked the branch away from him, turning his head when he noticed Kopa running toward him.

"Asante!" Kopa exclaimed again. Taka was standing up on all of his paws and didn't seem to be hurt from his fall, for all he did was try to wipe the dust away from his fur. Still, Kopa circled around his master, taking in every detail he saw to make sure there was nothing wrong with him.

Taka raised an eyebrow and spun his head around to keep looking at Kopa, until he got dizzy from doing so and shook his head.

"Kipawa!" He said, putting his paw to his aching head. "Stop, you're giving me a headache."

"A headache? That's what you're worried about? You just fell off a tree, Asante! You could have gotten seriously injured, or even worse! In fact, are you sure you are fine?" Kopa said, eyeing Taka again. "Does anything hurt? Can you walk by yourself?"

Taka looked up at the tree and saw what was left of the broken branch that had been responsible for his fall. "Kipawa, that branch was barely three feet tall. I understand you being worried, but…"

"No buts!" Kopa shook his head, interrupting Taka and giving a step forward. "You have to stop thinking everything's alright when it's not! You could have hurt your back, or even snapped your neck if you had fallen from a different angle! What were you thinking?" Kopa rushed out.

Taka's jaw dropped open in surprise. He couldn't help but notice Kopa's voice had risen a bit at the end of his sentence, probably because he was thinking about how wrong that situation could have gone. Taka straightened himself and looked down at Kopa, who was looking down and breathing heavily from his previous explosion.

"Kipawa…" Taka said as he gave a step forward to decrease the distance there was in between them. He put his paw on Kopa's chin and lifted the younger's head so that they were looking eye to eye. "I know that you're scared of losing me, but the fear you have… That fear is something that could be considered irrational." Taka gave a comforting smile and then sat down. "You don't have to feel that way all the time, I won't get hurt that easily."

Kopa bit his lower lip and took a deep breath, wiping his eyes with his paw to get rid of the tears that were starting to form in the corner of his eyes.

"Even things that may seem harmless at first sight can lead to terrible ends, Asante." Kopa said as he gulped and looked down, shrinking a little. "You can't just go around thinking everything will turn out ok, because sometimes it doesn't. This is why I do think you should avoid doing anything that could…" He bit his lip again, never finishing his sentence.

Taka closed his eyes and sighed.

"Look, Kipawa, I don't mean to scare you or anything like that, but things in this world are not immortal. Lions included. Everything stays here for the time it's meant to stay here." He looked around and nodded toward the tree he had fallen of. "Look at this tree, for example. It was here before any of us was born, and it will still be here after we're both gone. But even this tree is going to die, someday. No matter how hard it tries, it's going to pass away when its time comes. And one day, Kipawa, my time will come too."

"I know." Kopa frowned, his ears folding back. "But still…"

Taka knew he had failed to comfort Kopa, sighing when he noticed his uneasiness. He thought of what he could say that would actually help the younger, and his eyes widened when an idea hit him. It made him shiver, but it could work.

"Kipawa, I'll tell you something my father told me when I was a cub." Taka said as he stood up and looked up at the sky.

Kopa's head shot up at Taka's words.

"Your father?"

"Yes."

Kopa tilted his head in surprise. Taka had only mentioned his father once, and even then he hadn't been very generous with details. All he said was that his father always preferred his brother to him, and the way he had said it made it pretty clear that he wasn't willing to talk about his family. But now, he was about to. Kopa looked up at the sky as well, paying as much attention as he could.

Taka took a deep breath. "He told me that someone's time in Earth rises and falls like the sun. Even if I am careful like you always request me to be, one day the sun will set on my time; you want it or not."

"I know." Kopa muttered again. He knew that, he knew all of that. He just didn't like to think about death, especially after what had happened to him when he was just a cub. Going through the experience of losing someone again was just too much to bear, but he knew that Taka was older than him, and someday, he was going to…

"But," Taka interrupted Kopa's train of thought. "It doesn't matter where I am, I'll be watching over you. I'll take care of you, here or from above. When you care for someone, Kipawa, they never really leave. They remain with you, forever. Right here."

Kopa looked down at his body when Taka placed a paw over his heart. "The ones you care about, they live in you." Taka sighed and looked up at the sky. "Like I'll do once I'm gone."

Kopa seemed to think about Taka's words as the older lion moved his paw away from Kopa's chest. He looked up at his master and smiled slightly, but it didn't last long. Taka expected him to say something, but instead Kopa just closed his eyes and leaned forward, leaning his head on Taka's chest. After a few seconds standing still, he started to nuzzle Taka's mane and rub his head against him like a little cub.

The unexpected touch got Taka by surprise and he almost gave a step back to force Kopa to stop, but after the talk they had just had, that felt wrong. Not only that, he realized that he was rather enjoying it.

With a smile on his face, Taka sat down and wrapped his front leg around Kopa's shoulder and brought him closer, cradling him against himself.

"You don't have to think about that now, Kipawa." Taka said, not being able to keep a smile off his face. "I'm here, and I'm alright. And I don't plan on leaving you anytime soon."

His mind flew back to when he had said similar words and done a similar act toward Simba, right after Mufasa's death. In that situation he was just being down right disingenuous, but now he did mean it. He did want Kopa to feel ok, and he did want to comfort him. And he did mean it when he said he was always going to be there for him.

Even if Kopa was already a teenager and Taka had raised him ever since he was a cub, that feeling was new to Taka. They had never talked about exactly what they were to each other – that being the reason why Kopa just called him his master – but Taka knew he meant a lot to the younger lion. It wasn't like Kopa was Taka's adoptive son or anything like that, and he knew Kopa didn't consider him to be his father; but at the same time, Kopa was much more than just a cub he had rescued.

He wasn't sure if Kopa knew it, but he meant a lot to Taka too.

He did call him gift, after all.

"Thank you, Asante." Kopa whispered into Taka's fur. "Thank you."

* * *

What a day it had been.

Kion had defeated the hyenas all by himself with his roar and saved his friend Bunga, learnt about his brother, assembled a new lion guard and they had already saved the circle of life and also Kiara's life – all of that on their first day together!

Simba and Nala couldn't be prouder of their son and his friends, Rafiki was beyond thrilled, Kiara wouldn't stop thanking the Lion Guard and the members felt a warm feeling of duty accomplished growing inside them.

It certainly was one of the happiest days the Pride Lands had ever had the chance to witness.

Only Kion wasn't happy.

Sure, everyone around him was happy and excited, and he did feel happy about everything he and his friends had done. Knowing that he had met his father's expectations made him feel overwhelmed with bliss in a way he had never felt before.

But he still wasn't happy. Not fully, at least.

The sun was now set, only a few lonely orange sunbeams danced in the sky, slowly fading away as the night came. The moon already stood tall and bright above everyone; calling some animals for a night of rest while some were about to wake up.

Kion's friends had all left for their respective homes, aside from Bunga who lived in the Pride Rock with his adoptive uncles Timon and Pumbaa and was already sleeping with them. All the lions were already inside the cave, and most of them had already fallen asleep, including the very queen and king of the Pride Lands.

It was Kiara who noticed her brother wasn't there with them, just before she could fall asleep.

"Kion?" Kiara whispered in the darkness, looking around. "Kion, where are you?"

She yawned and stood up; starting to pace aimlessly around the cave to look for her brother, trying to be as quiet as possible so that she wouldn't wake up anyone.

"Kion? I hope you're not hiding to scare me again, I'll tell mom and dad if you…"

Kiara was cut short when she looked out of the cave and saw the very cub she was looking for. He was outside, on the border of the Pride Rock, lying down and looking up at the stars. Kiara frowned and raised an eyebrow, wondering what her brother was doing outside in such a cold night. She thought of going back to sleep since she now knew he was alright, but instead she sighed and walked out the cave, going toward her brother.

"Hey, Kion." Kiara called when she was right behind him. Kion turned his head in shock, but calmed down when he saw who it was.

"Oh, hi, Kiara. Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked as he scooted over to the side to make room for his sister as she lay down beside him.

"I could ask you the same question, but I'm going to answer you anyway. I'm not sleeping because I was looking for you. Now you tell me, why are you outside? One would think you'd want some rest after the day you just had."

Kion smiled at his sister, but then frowned and looked down.

"What's wrong?" Kiara asked with concern in her voice.

"I… I was just thinking." Kion sighed. "Do you remember when dad told us that we're never alone because the great kings of the past look down on us from the stars?"

"Well, of course I remember that." Kiara said, putting one of her paws over the other and smiling. "Our grandfather Mufasa is there. And our great grandfather Ahadi, too. And I know Uru and Sarabi are there too, I just know it. They were married to the kings after all; I bet they're together up there. All of them, watching over us."

"So you think that the queens are up there too?"

"Of course they are." Kiara rolled her eyes. "Nobody ever talks about the queens; it's always about them kings lording over everything, even the sky. Well, when I'm queen I'll make sure to tell my cubs all about queens as well. But of course they're up there too."

Kiara wondered if Kion had even heard her answer, for he had his eyes wide open and fixed upon the sky above as if she wasn't even there. She could even see the reflection of the stars in his eyes. Before she could call his attention, he spoke again, his eyes never leaving the sky.

"Do you think the great princes of the past are there too?"

Kiara's jaw dropped open, but she closed it without wording anything. Her eyes wandered around for a few seconds, and then she sighed and leaned her head on her paws.

"You're wondering if Kopa's up there aren't you?" She grunted.

Kion's eyes widened and he turned his head to look at Kiara. She wore a blank expression on her face, so he didn't know exactly what she was feeling.

"H-How'd you guess?" Kion asked, a little louder than he meant to. He hissed and looked over his shoulder to make sure he hadn't woken anybody up before looking back at Kiara. She was looking at the sky and had her eyebrows furrowed.

"Because I wonder it too." She whispered. "Almost every night."

His eyes widened a second time as he sat up. "Wait, how do you even know about Kopa? When did dad tell you…?"

He was cut short when Kiara scoffed and sat up as well. "He didn't tell me about him, Kion. I remember him. Sorta."

Kion opened his mouth, a glance of a smile appearing in his face. "You do? Really?"

Kiara sighed, regretting that she had brought the topic up. "I remember him a little, I guess. I was still just a baby, but… You know, I have some memories. But why did dad tell you about him anyway?" She whined. Kiara always thought that they had an unspoken agreement of never talking about Kopa again. At least she did.

"Dad said he was going to be the new leader, but he never had the chance to do it, because… Well, he was killed before he could." Kion's ears folded back. "And now that I'm the leader, I just wonder… I wonder if he's proud of me. If he's watching over us, I mean."

Kiara blinked and her frown became a smile after she sighed.

"Of course he's proud of you, Kion." She laid a paw on her brother's shoulder. "You saved me, and you saved the Pride Lands; all in one day. You also managed to assemble an awesome lion guard, like he would have done. If he was here, he would tell you how proud you've made him, I just know it."

Kion smiled at her. "Thanks, Kiara."

She nodded and smiled as well, and after that they were in silence for a while as they watched the stars twinkling above. A few shooting stars flew right through the sky, causing the cubs to smile and secretly make wishes.

"Hey, Kiara." Kion called after a few minutes.

"Yes, Kion?"

"You said you remember him. How… How was he, exactly?"

Kiara raised an eyebrow at her brother. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, dad told me that he was a good hunter and that he was brave and fierce, even without the roar. But… What else was there about him? What did he like to do? Hum, what did he look like?" He sighed. "I was born after he was already dead, Kiara. I don't have memories of him. And I never will."

"Oh, Kion…" Kiara sighed and rubbed her head on his shoulder to comfort him. "I truly am sorry. And more than anyone I wish Kopa was still here with us. But if it makes you feel any better, it's not like I remembered all about him. I mean, I was just a little cub when he died."

"But you still remember something, don't you?"

Kiara blinked and looked down before looking at Kion.

"Yes, I do. I remember…" She closed her eyes when a soft cold breeze blew around her, almost as if it was giving her a hug. "His eyes were blue, like our mother's. And his fur, while yellow, it wasn't like yours or like dad's. His color was, well, it looked like he had rolled over dirt, sort of a brown-ish yellow. And his mane was a very, very dark shade of red." Kiara looked up and pondered for a while. "That's about it."

Kion shivered when the breeze left Kiara and flew around him as well. "Is that all you remember about him?" Kion asked, feeling a little disappointed at her answer.

"Well…" Kiara tapped her paw on the ground several times and bit her lip. "Oh, I remember that he liked to tell me stories. He would tell me stories about everything, every night. His voice, it was… I don't remember how his voice was, but it calmed me down. Oh, oh!" She stood up with the excitement. "Dad wasn't lying when he said Kopa was really brave. There was this one time when we were walking around the kingdom, and he fought against a venomous snake that tried to eat me, all by himself! And he won!"

Kion noticed how Kiara's eyes sparkled when she was talking about Kopa and couldn't help but smile. However, it was gone when Kiara frowned.

"He really was an awesome older brother, Kion." She said with watery eyes before he could ask anything. "I miss him so much."

"Hey, I know I never really met him, but believe me, I miss him as well. I miss someone I've never even met. It's so weird." He nuzzled the side of her cheek. "But like you said, I bet he's watching over us. And you know what dad says, the ones you love are never really gone. They stay with you…"

"In your heart, I know." Kiara chuckled. "I guess you're right. But sometimes I wonder why he had to go. It really wasn't fair." She looked up at the sky again.

The cubs were in silence again until the breeze was back and blew on them both.

"It's getting quite late; I think we should get going. Mom and dad will be mad if they see us out here." She nodded toward the cave. "And I think it's going to get really cold today."

Kion nodded and stood up, walking past his sister and entering the cave. Kiara followed him and went to her usual sleeping spot. However, just when she was about to lie down Kiara walked back to the entrance and peeked out, looking up at the sky with a sigh.

"Good night, Kopa." She whispered. "I miss you." She then went back to the cave to finally get some rest beside her brother.

Little did they know, Rafiki was hiding behind a huge rock on the Pride Rock and he had been watching and hearing the two siblings the whole time, satisfied with the talk the two of them had shared, but he couldn't help a lonely tear that he quickly wiped away from his face.

"Oh, princess Kiara," He sighed, "I bet Kopa misses you too." Rafiki looked up at the sky before he left and went to his tree.

* * *

The soft breeze that had involved Kiara and Kion while they were talking didn't just disappear in the cold night.

Almost like it had a predefined destiny, it flew straight from the Pride Rock to a land that was far away from there, where a teenager yellow lion and an old brown lion were sleeping peacefully in a cave.

Both Kopa and Taka shivered in their sleep when the breeze flew around them. Kopa opened his eyes, but closed them again because the wind kept pushing his mane over them. After a few seconds, the breeze simply left the cave as if it had a mind of its own.

Kopa blew his mane away from his eyes. "Nyasi yangu, that was weird." He said, watching the trace of leaves and feathers that the breeze took with it as it left the cave. After that, he just shrugged it off and went back to sleep.

As all the lions went to sleep, they didn't notice a lonely star that twinkled more than all the others, carefully watching over them all.

* * *

 **As Rafiki would say: I just hope you know what you are doing, Mufasa!**

 **So, this turned out differently than I meant to. At first, Kion's friends were going to comfort him about Kopa, not Kiara. But it didn't feel right considering how Kiara is his sister and I also thought she could add more since she actually knew Kopa.**

 **Kion's friends will probably appear next chapter, so I'll do my best not to fail on their characterization.**

 **I hope you liked this, thanks for reading!**


	6. Three of us

**Hello guys!**

 **So, this chapter was inspired by the new episode of The Lion Guard, "Never judge a hyena by its spots", but there aren't really any spoilers here. I wanted to publish it sooner, but I was too stressed to write because I was waiting for my college results. Good news: I'm in!**

 **I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

The night was very quiet. The only sound to be heard was a weak whistling wind that was only strong enough to carry along some dry leaves and lost feathers with it as it wandered around aimlessly through the blinding darkness, for there was no moon and almost no stars in the sky that night.

It was quite possible that Rafiki was the only creature that was awake in the Pride Lands at such odd hours. The leaves of his tree rustled loudly as the wind circled around them, oddly blowing stronger there than anywhere else as if it had a mind of its own.

"Oh, Mufasa," The old monkey said out loud, even though he was alone; as he dipped his fingers in an old coconut husk that now served as a bowl where he kept the ink he made, "Everyday Kiara grows more beautiful into a queen that will someday make us all very proud. And there's also Kion who grows stronger each day, proving to be the right choice as the new leader of the Lion Guard."

Rafiki smiled and put the husk on the ground, giving a step back to admire his drawings. One of them depicted an orange female lion cub, and the other one depicted a yellow cub with a red tuft of fur on the top of its head.

"Finally, things are starting to be what they must be. The Pride Lands sure have had its share of disasters, hum?"

It was when the wind became unquiet, blowing in circles around the monkey. His smile faded as he raised an eyebrow and looked up at the stars through the branches above his head, his mane fluttering in the wind.

"What?"

The monkey furrowed his eyebrows when he caught some of the feathers and leaves that were being carried by the wind and looked at them in his hand, suspicious. He then sniffed it, only to frown even more.

"What are you trying to say?"

Somehow, the wind seemed to shrug.

Rolling his eyes, Rafiki walked up to an old turtle shell, dropping everything he had caught from the wind in it and shaking it in a slow motion. After that, he laid it on his lap and leaned his head on his hand, staring at the inside of the shell for a while. Any other animal wouldn't see anything other than dirt and feathers, but for the monkey, that was a message. A few seconds later, his eyes widened.

"What? No, it can't be!" He said; gripping the corners of the shell and shaking it again in disbelief, hoping that would change what he saw. However, it didn't. The message remained the same. His jaw dropped as he pushed the shell away and stood up. "Scar… Is alive?!"

For a few seconds, the wind fell quiet. Rafiki sputtered some intelligible words for a few seconds as he tried to wrap his brain around that new information. After he calmed down, he sighed and went to a branch of the tree where there was an old, washed-out drawing of a brown lion cub with a scar on the left eye that he had made long ago. He reached for another shell that was on the floor and dipped his fingers in it, coating them with dark ink. With a shaking hand, he drew a black mane on the lion cub, making it look like an adult.

"This... This could mean some trouble." Rafiki sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, Mufasa, when are we going to have some peace?" He stared at the drawing in front of him as his memory was flooded with memories of that old brown lion whose legacy for the pride had been nothing but misery.

The wind then blew stronger than before, proceeding to disappear into the forest. The leaves ruffled once more, but fell quiet soon after.

"Well, I just hope you know what you're doing, Mufasa." Rafiki said as he took hold of his staff and sighed. "And I hope good luck is on our side. I have the feeling we're going to need it really bad this time."

* * *

"That's right! Back to the Outlands!" Kion said as he stepped on the tree trunk that served as a bridge and watched Janja and the other hyenas running scared into where they belonged. "Now!"

When Kion yelled the last word, a glance of the roar could be heard with it. It wasn't very loud or strong, but it was enough to make the old trunk beneath Kion start to creak and move. Kion frowned and looked down, but before he had time to think the trunk gave in and broke into several pieces, quickly launching the cub into the air before he fell in the river.

The sudden fall caught Kion out of his guard, and he sank deep as his nostrils were invaded by water and he felt them burning. He quickly grabbed a log that was about to go up, sinking his claws into it, holding it tight as it floated and brought him back to the surface. As soon as his head was out of the water, Kion coughed and tried to catch his breath, still holding onto the log that was being dragged by the rough river.

After Ono's alert about Kion being in trouble, all the other members of the Lion Guard ran to the river, desperate to help his friend. However, there wasn't much they could do. Jumping in the river was out of the question, for the current was too strong and swimming there to get to Kion would be impossible. They all ran along the river's edge, trying to keep pace with Kion, but the only one who was being able to do that was Ono due to how fast the water was.

The log hit against rocks several times, and each time Kion sank his claws deeper into it in a desperate try to keep it close to him as it was the only thing keeping him out of the water. However, it broke more and more with every hit. Not only that, Kion also kept getting hurt and all of his strength was slipping out of his body. His claws retracted back into his paws against his will after another hit and he was now just hugging the log.

"Hang in there, Kion." Ono said as he hovered above Kion, who looked up at him with tired eyes. The bird then looked ahead again and gasped when he noticed how strong the current was about to get, and also the amount of rocks that there were there. "Oh, no! Kion, look out! Rocks! Straight ahead!"

Kion slowly turned his head and got new strength as a huge amount of adrenaline started to run through his body when he saw what he was about to go through.

"Whoa!" Kion yelled. He tried to hold onto the log with his claws again, feeling one of his claws bend back painfully where he was gripping the wood when he hit a rock and spun around. The river was not being kind to him, the water only getting rougher by the second. Soon enough the current pulled him down and he was forced to let the log go, roaming into the water as he tried to swim back to the surface.

Using all of the strength he had left in his body, Kion swam against the flow and managed to bring himself up; coughing and panting. He tried to hold on one of the rocks in the river, but the water dragged him away from it almost as if it didn't want him to hold on it. He kept trying to swim against the flow, noticing it was taking him away from the Pride Lands, but his effort was useless. Then, he accidentally swallowed water and lost what little balance he had, sinking once more.

"Kion!" Fuli yelled as she and the rest of the Lion Guard ran as fast as they could. "Come on, how rough can this river be?"

Into the river, Kion was still being dragged aimlessly by the water, and his lungs were already starting to hurt due to the lack of the air. He was feeling tired and sore, but closed his eyes and kicked his way up with his hind legs, taking the deepest breath he could take as soon as his head was out of water. However, when he opened his eyes, he saw a rock right in front of him. Before he could even try to swim around it, the water threw him against it.

Kion's head hit the rock and suddenly he felt several shivers going down his spine. His legs went numb, his vision started to fade to black and his breath shortened. His body didn't obey him and his eyelids went down as he fainted. After that, it was easier for the river to drag him around even faster; his body following the flow like it was just a lifeless doll.

"Kion? Kion!" Ono called from above. However, Kion didn't answer. All that could be heard was the sound of ever running water, and then the yellow cub disappeared into the water.

"Ono, where is he?" Bunga asked, panting and tired from all the running, but never stopping.

Ono looked from side to side, making sure to look at everywhere he could. Even if he was the keenest of sight, he could not see his friend. "I... I don't know!"

Fuli stopped running, and so did Beshte. Bunga ran a little more before realizing his friends had stopped before doing so himself and going back to their side.

"What do you mean?" Fuli called from bellow as the bird flew around and looked at several directions.

"I don't see him! He's nowhere! Kion?"

Ono started calling for Kion hopelessly over and over again, and soon all of his friends were calling for him as well. But no matter how hard or how loud they yelled, there was never an answer. When they were out of their breaths and tired, they all collapsed onto the ground, panting. They stared straight ahead, their eyes following all of the river's curves and gaps that created strong waves as they searched for Kion.

But their friend was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Kopa's shoulder blades moved up and down as he lowered himself among the grass to hide from a rabbit that he had decided was going to be his dinner. His eyes locked on the thin animal in front of him, and he held his breath when the rabbit lifted his head from the ground and looked around, almost spotting Kopa. However, it didn't notice there was a lion there since it just went back to eating.

Kopa took a deep yet silent breath as he lowered himself even more and adjusted his hind legs so that they could give him a boost to jump on the rabbit. But when he gave a step forward to approach his prey, he stepped on a dry twig and it snapped. He gasped a little in shock, foolishly raising his body and revealing his location to the rodent.

The rabbit didn't waste a second and started jumping away as fast as it could, so fast that Kopa wouldn't have been able to reach it even if he had tried. However, that was the third prey Kopa had lost that day, and now he was too jaded to hunt. He turned around and kicked a rock out of his way in frustration, letting out a sigh. His stomach rumbled and he arched his back, laying a paw over his belly.

Concern filled Kopa when he looked around and noticed the lack of animals. Usually that area was filled with birds, rats, rabbits, snakes and other creatures. But on that moment, aside from a few lonely bugs that he could hear and see, he seemed to be the only animal there; as if everyone else had fled at the same time. He looked down and bit his lower lip, thinking.

Taking his claws out, Kopa scratched the floor and noticed how dry the ground was. Not only was that, but the twig he had stepped on was pretty dry as well. And it hadn't rained for over a hundred moons. He might not have the experience Taka had, but Kopa knew that that could only mean a drought was approaching; and a drought he should be worried about.

His stomach rumbled once more and he groaned. His lips were dry and chapped, so he decided to go drink some water before trying to hunt again. And now that he had revealed his presence, any animals that were perchance in that field had long ran away and he would have to look for food somewhere else. With a sigh, Kopa started to walk toward the closest river, hoping it would still be there despite the drought.

Kopa stood on the top of a ravine, looking down at the river beneath. There was still water there, but the volume had decreased alarmingly ever since Kopa had last been there. Usually the water would get to his chest when he entered the river, but now it would get to his ankles, at most. The water was no longer abundant and livid; its strong flow was now just a trickle. Thankfully there was still enough to drink, so he jumped out of the ravine and startled walking toward the river.

His paws sank a few inches into the part of the sand that remained soft and wet from when the river used to reach there. Kopa tilted his head to the side and looked down at his reflection in the water. His mane was already a thick straight line of fur that covered all the extension of his neck, and he already had a forelock that fell forward, covering his forehead. His eyes remained blue, so blue that they seemed to blend in with the blue water. They were the only thing on him that he had gotten from his mother.

As far as Kopa was concerned, he looked exactly like his father.

He shook his head and splashed some water on his face with his paws, shaking his head again to dry himself and taking a deep breath. After that, he finally leaned down and started to drink some water. It took him several sips to finally get satisfied, and when it happened he licked his lips.

Kopa was about to turn around and walk away, back to the open field where he would be able to hunt something, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye on the other side of the river.

At first, it seemed to be just a yellow smudge that Kopa assumed to be just a bunch of old leaves. However, he realized that old leaves were a dark pale shade of yellow, not livid like that. The shape of that smudge was awkward, and Kopa couldn't quite figure out what it was from afar. He tilted his head again and squinted, raising an eyebrow. He noticed that whatever that was, it seemed to have fur. Usually lions didn't eat animals that they hadn't killed themselves, but when one is starving they don't really have that much of a choice.

Kopa then entered the river that was so shallow that it could be called a huge puddle instead. It was only deep enough to cover his paws, making it extremely easy to walk to the other side. However, Kopa stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened, his jaw dropping in surprise and shock.

The animal laying there was a lion cub.

Kopa then ran until he was in front of the cub and looked down at it. It didn't seem to be breathing, and Kopa gulped when he moved his paw to touch the little motionless body. He lay the back of his paw against the cub's neck and Kopa backed away when he noticed it was stone-cold. Shivering, Kopa slowly approached the cub again and leaned down to see if it was breathing. He thought he had seen the cub's chest going up and down, but it was so subtle and slow that it was impossible for him to be sure.

Kopa straightened himself up again and looked down at the cub. He was lying on the very corner of the river, and in fact the lower part of his body was rather inside the river, his legs were wet and that was probably the reason why he felt so cold. Kopa leaned down and pushed the cub up with his muzzle until it was far enough from the water. But even with the touch and the movement, the cub didn't show any kind of reaction.

Kopa hesitated but then took a deep breath, gulping. He leaned down once more, pressing his ear against the cub's chest.

After a few seconds, he heard it; the cub's heartbeat. It was slow, distant and extremely faint, but it was there. The cub was alive. Cold, wet and unconscious, but alive. Kopa smiled and sighed in relief.

However, he soon frowned and looked around.

Who was that cub anyway? Its body was all wet; perhaps someone had tried to drown him on purpose? As cruel as that sounded, Kopa knew that getting rid of cubs was a common practice whenever a drought was close; because that meant more food for the adults. He remembered when his father rescued several cubs whose parents had tried to kill back when Kopa was a cub and the Pride Lands were going through the worst drought ever; but most of them were those despiteful rogues, so it wasn't that much of a surprise that they would try to do something so terrible to their own cubs.

Maybe he was the cub of the lion who had roared a few days back. Kopa looked around and sniffed, trying to see if he was going to feel any scent that belonged to some other lion, but he didn't. He looked down and around himself, looking for any paw prints that weren't his, but there were none.

"Hello?" Kopa called. "If there's anyone here, I've found your cub. Hello?"

Kopa knew that if there were new lions around, it was more likely that they were going to be his enemies, but it was worth a shot to find the parents of that lost cub. He waited for a while, but the only thing he heard was the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.

Kopa looked down at the cub again. He seemed so helpless, so weak, so... Defenseless. His heartbeat was almost nonexistent and he could easily be mistaken for a dead animal. And if he remained there, life was sure to leave him soon.

For the first time in a long time, Kopa held a cub in his mouth. He carefully lifted the body from the ground and carried him through the river, proceeding to walk toward his cave. Taking in a cub when a drought was approaching was not something very smart to do, but Kopa's brain was left far behind and he let his heart take over from there.

Bringing home a new mouth to feed wasn't the smartest thing to do at the moment. But rescuing a cub from certain death surely seemed to be just the right thing.

* * *

Kopa approached the cave with the cub in his mouth. As he walked toward it, he took in a few details about the cub. It certainly looked a lot like Kopa himself; with a fur that was yellow like the sun and a bright red tuft of fur on the top of his head, only it fell back instead of falling over his eyes, sort of like Taka's mane. It also had spots on the legs that most lion cubs had and that were going to disappear as soon as the cub hit puberty.

The cave was now close enough for Kopa to be able to see inside it. Taka was lying down inside of it, most likely sleeping. Kopa stopped right when he stepped on the cave's entrance with a worried look. The first thing he thought was that he hadn't brought any food, and Taka was probably hungry - and so was Kopa. The thought of disappointing his master made him feel sick.

And then, it came to him that he hadn't thought about how Taka would react upon the fact that Kopa had brought an unknown cub home.

Kopa gulped and entered the cave, carefully laying the cub on the floor a few feet away from where Taka was sleeping. The cub hadn't woken up yet, and Kopa made sure he was still alive by checking his heartbeat again. After that, he stood in front of the cub and poked Taka's shoulder. The old lion blinked his eyes open and sighed, yawning and stretching himself.

"Kipawa," Taka said with a sleepy voice, "Good to see you're back. Did you catch anything?"

Kopa looked down into Taka's eyes and gulped, forcing a smile. Taka seemed to notice Kopa's uneasiness, for he raised an eyebrow.

"Kipawa?"

"Well, yeah. I did catch something today. Only it wasn't an ordinary prey." Kopa said. Taka tilted his head to the side with that answer, but before he could ask anything Kopa gave a step to the side and revealed the cub lying behind him.

Taka's eyes grew wild and he stood up, quickly walking past Kopa to stand in front of the cub. He blinked his eyes in confusion and his mouth was open in surprise, but other than that he didn't seem to show any other emotion. He just stared down at the cub for a while as if the little lion was a code that needed to be deciphered and required full attention. After a sigh, Taka sat down and looked at Kopa.

"Care to explain or...?"

Kopa sat down by Taka's side and forced a smile, looking down at the cub. "I wasn't lucky about hunting today. Then I found this little fellow near the river. I thought he was dead, but he's alive. Well, for now he is. And I just... I couldn't leave him there, you know?"

Taka shook his head and closed his eyes.

"If I know it? Kipawa, I did exactly the same thing a few time ago with a certain lost cub I found alone in these lands." Taka smiled at Kopa, who chuckled and shrugged. Then, Taka leaned down and touched the cub with his paw. "Oh, my; he's stone-cold! I... I'm not even sure if it's still possible for us to save him, Kipawa. He might be with hypothermia already."

"What? No!" Once again, the thought of death made Kopa's heart beat fast as unwanted memories flashed through his mind. "No, Asante, we can't let him die! There must be something we can do! He's alive, he's still breathing, he's not _dead_ yet!"

Kopa spoke fast and with watery eyes. Taka's eyes widened in surprise, but then he sighed, walking up to the entrance of the cave, but turning his body to look at Kopa behind him.

"Very well. This is what we're going to do: I'm going out to find us something to eat. You stay here and keep the cub warm. Overlap your paws over one another, and so try to provide him a warm nest. Lick and clean him until he dries; and make it your priority to make sure he's warm, alright?" Taka said, leaving the cave.

"Asante, wait!" Kopa said, giving a step forward. He looked at the cub and at Taka several times. " _You_ are going out to hunt? I think it's best if you stay here and take care of this cub and let me take care of the hunting. You can get hurt..."

Taka held up his paw.

"Look, I've done enough babysitting for a life when I took care of you, Kipawa. I'm not doing it again at this age. And I assure you I'll be just fine. I promise I won't climb any trees or do anything that could harm me. I'm just going to catch some rabbits. If that boy there wakes up, I'm sure he's going to be hungry. Now do as I said and keep him warm, alright? I'll be back before you know it." Taka nodded and turned around, walking away from the cave.

Kopa sighed and nodded, looking down at the cub by his side. He lay down on the floor and cradled the cub between his paws, making sure he was comfortable and that he could breathe properly in that position. Kopa then started to lick the cub clean, rubbing his face on his body and bringing him close to his chest so that he could share his body heat. After just a few seconds, the cub's heartbeat already started to feel steadier. Kopa sighed in relief and kept doing that, smiling when the cub stirred in his sleep. It was working.

Taka was several feet in front of the cave when he stopped walking and looked over his shoulder. He saw Kopa licking the cub inside the cave and couldn't help but smile, proud of what his rescued cub had become, but then he rolled his eyes and frowned.

"Yellow fur, red mane. That combo will haunt me forever, won't it?" Taka groaned, looking up at the sky and rolling his eyes again. After that, he began to walk once more, trying to focus on hunting.

Now, there were three of them to feed.

* * *

 **Yes, Scar, that combo has haunted you your whole life.**

 **Now, the storylines will start to come together. I hope you guys liked this chapter! See you soon. Thanks a lot for all the reviews/favorites/follows so far :)**


	7. You've grown

**I wasn't quite sure if this chapter should be focused on Taka or on the Pride Lands. I hope I did the right choice. And some details of the past will be explored here, but they won't be explained until later on. Everything on its time!**

 **Well, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The setting sun was about to touch the horizon line, its light danced through the leaves and created an ever-changing pattern of an orange gold light and shade on the grass below. In the faint shadow of one of those trees, Taka stood still on the riverside, only his right rear leg was being illuminated by the sunlight.

His eyes were locked on the river beneath him as he watched it carefully, waiting for another inattentive fish to pass by so that he could finally go back home. On his left side laid two dead fishes with small holes on their bodies, fouling the ground with the blood that dripped from them. However, luck was not on Taka's side. Even though the first two preys had come to him quite fast, he had been laughably long in that position to try to catch a third one.

And as he waited, Taka was forced to stare at his reflection.

The lion in the river staring straight back at him caused Taka to shiver and he had an uncontrollable urge to close his eyes and look away, but he couldn't do it when he was trying to hunt. He hated his brown, dirt-colored fur that always contrasted with the beauty of his brother's shiny, gold color. His coat had been the reason why all the other cubs made fun of him, including Mufasa sometimes. He also hated his scarred eye and shredded ear that never healed properly, because those reminded him of some of his failures, and his face shape reminded him of his real and miserable origin that he always tried to forget and ignore.

Even his eyes, which had been so praised by his friends in the past for their unusual yet gorgeous bright green color, caused him inexplicable despair. When he looked into his reflection's eyes, all he saw was his mother's eyes. He looked so much like her, any other lioness would have been proud to have a cub that had gotten all of their traits. All of them, except his mother.

Those thoughts made Taka so angry that his claws sprang out of his paws and he scratched the ground as he gritted his teeth. He was so focused in his anger that he didn't notice it when a fish swam by right in front of him. His eyes widened when he realized it, shaking his head to come back to reality. He looked frantically from side to side, spotting his prey a few feet away from him, but thankfully still close enough to the riverside.

Taka jogged to get by its side, sloppily dipping his paw in the lake and bringing the fish out of the water. He jumped and tried to catch it with his mouth, but it fell back in the river. Aware that it would try to swim away, Taka grunted and jumped in the river to hold it before it could escape. The water was deep enough to water his belly, so it was hard for him to move; but he managed to be somehow agile. With one quick move, he dipped his snout in the water and when he raised his head, he had successfully captured the fish with his mouth.

As it was still alive, the fish fought with all of its strength to get out of the lion's mouth. Taka's head moved against his will, following the fish's shaking attempts to escape, so Taka held it tighter, sinking his teeth into its body. It strained one last time before going numb in his mouth, but not quite dead yet. Taka took a deep breath and exited the river, going back to the riverside and dropping his new prey on top of the other two fishes, proceeding to shake his body to get rid of the water.

"I'm way too old for this." He sighed and leaned down, opening his mouth as far as it would go to grab the three fishes at once, and then he started to walk toward his home. As he went on his way, he wondered how Kopa was doing with the cub.

* * *

Kopa looked affectionately at the sleeping cub in the middle of his paws. He didn't know why, but holding that lost little lion made him feel extremely warm inside. Perhaps it was because it reminded him of the time when he lived in the Pride Lands and helped all of those cubs whose parents couldn't take care of by themselves. Simba always told him how proud he was that he was making himself useful in such a noble cause.

Simba... The name suddenly echoed through Kopa's head like a thunder. Kopa hadn't thought of his old home and family in a really long time now. He raised his head and looked ahead, outside the cave; and stared at the horizon. If one went in that direction for a day and half a night, they'd get to the Pride Lands. Not few were the times Kopa thought of going back, but after everything that had happened, it didn't feel right.

He surely missed his sister, mother and father. He also missed Rafiki, especially when the old monkey told him stories about the olden times of the kingdom. And he missed his friends, too. They used to play so much, until the accident...

Kopa's heart ached at those thoughts. A cold wind blew across his face and he closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, trying to remember the faces and places that he had left behind long ago. Not that he would forget them so easily; after all, he looked just like his father and had a lot of his mother as well. And Kiara...

When the cub yawned and rubbed his head against Kopa, the older lion came back to reality and snapped out of his nostalgic thoughts.

"Hello?" Kopa whispered, leaning his head down until he could feel the cub's breath on his face. "Are you awake, little buddy?"

"Kipawa?"

For a second, Kopa raised an eyebrow. He then rolled his eyes and snorted when he realized that it was Taka who had called him, not the cub in his arms. He even had used his nickname that nobody else knew about. Taka had just entered the cave and was approaching Kopa, stopping to drop his preys on the ground. They fell from his mouth with a wet thud as Taka lay in front of Kopa and looked down at the cub.

"So, how's he going?" Taka asked.

"Alive, I guess." Kopa sighed.

Taka pondered. "Did he wake up yet?"

"No..." Kopa's ears fell. "Not ever since I brought him here."

"That's not a good sign..." Taka immediately regretted saying that when he saw Kopa's eyes widening in shock. "But it's not necessarily a bad sign either! He's just been through a lot. Especially if he was dragged by the river, like we suspect. Like you said, he's alive. That's what matters." Taka smiled and shrugged. He knew that he couldn't raise Kopa's expectations too high, but if that cub was still alive even after being almost dead, who was to say he wouldn't make it?

Kopa sighed again, but this time with a smile. He looked at the cub and then at the old lion in front of him. Taka was always a mystery to Kopa as he never revealed much about his past, but Kopa also held back a lot of information about himself. In a way, they knew nothing about each other, but they also knew everything they needed to know. Taka had raised Kopa, and made clear several times that he loved him; even if he had never said those exact words out loud. And Kopa loved him with all his heart as well.

If Kopa hadn't run away, he never would have met Taka. It felt weird to imagine a life without his master, as if they were always meant to be a family; even if they weren't related at all. Kopa wondered if Taka felt the same way about him.

"Can I hold him?"

Kopa snapped out of his thoughts again and looked at Taka. He had his eyes locked on the cub in Kopa's paws and his mouth was slightly open, as if he was hypnotized. It took Kopa a moment to process his words, but once he did, he nodded and carefully held the cub by the neck. He lifted it a few inches from the floor and laid it in the middle of Taka's paws.

Taka adjusted his paws and used his snout to put the cub in a better position. Taka could feel the cub's warm breath on his paw and he could feel his heartbeat against his own. The cub was sleeping so peacefully that it was hard to believe he had been dragged by the river. The older lion smiled tenderly.

"I used to hold you like this." He giggled, looking at the cub and then at Kopa. He seemed even bigger than Taka remembered he was, and that surprised him. "I'm afraid I can't even hold you anymore. When did you grow that much?"

Kopa giggled and stood up, looking down at Taka. "I believe it was after you took me in and fed me when I had no one else." He then leaned down and rubbed his face against Taka's, proceeding to walk around the old lion and grabbing one of the fishes. He lay down beside Taka and started to eat as they both watched the cub.

"Was it hard to take care of me?" Kopa asked, taking a bite of the fish.

Taka shrugged. "Not that hard. I mean, you weren't exactly a little cub when I found you. You could take care of yourself just fine if I needed to leave you alone for a few hours. And you were quite smart. It wasn't hard to teach you how to hunt or how to find your way if you got lost."

"I was smart? Really?"

"Really." Taka nodded with a smile.

Kopa blinked in surprise, but then smiled and went back to eating. There were a few more moments of silence before he took a deep breath and looked at Taka again.

"Why did you take me in?"

Taka's eyes widened as he bit his lower lip. He looked at Kopa and then looked down, taking a deep breath. He gently nuzzled Kopa's neck and that made him giggle, but they both became serious when Taka took another deep breath again and frowned.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "You were a little cub, lost and alone. You'd certainly die if nobody took care of you. It just seemed the right thing to do. Even if you did turn my life upside down and gave me a little more action than what I needed."

Kopa laughed. "I never really thanked you for that did I?"

"Nope. But it's never too late." Taka winked at him, which made Kopa roll his eyes with a smile.

"Thanks. You know, for taking care of me." Kopa said, looking down in embarrassment.

"You're welcome, Kipawa." Taka smiled. "You're a great boy. I suppose I need to thank you too… For bringing a little more of joy into my life. Whoever your parents were, they don't know what they lost when they abandoned you."

Kopa's smile became a forced one as he made his best not to frown.

"Yeah…" He said through his clenched teeth, gulping. "When they abandoned me… Before you took me in."

Kopa looked down sadly, but went back to eating before Taka could notice the sadness in his face. That way, Taka just nodded and smiled as he watched Kopa eating the prey he had brought him. He hadn't hunted for Kopa in a really long time; probably even since Kopa had become able to hunt himself. Taka had forgotten how gratifying that could be.

None of them noticed it when the cub blinked his eyes open.

* * *

 **This was going to be longer, but I decided to stop here; both because I didn't have more time to write and because I was afraid it would become too long if I didn't split it up now. Also, it felt too long since I updated this.**

 **I hope you liked it! Sorry if not much happened, but the pace of the story has to be just right, and action will come later. Please, review!**


	8. Hello?

**Hello, guys!**

 **So, Jasiri is mentioned on this. Although in this universe it was like Kion had never met her (because of the twist I made when he fell into the river) I thought she could be used here. So just pretend they had already met. Also, this is where the movies and the series (along with what was made by the fan base) start to come together.**

 **Also, thanks Hoping 4 a dream for the long review! I was flattered when I read it ^^**

 **Well, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Of all the headaches Kion had ever had in his life, that one was definitely the worst.

And not only was the pounding in his head almost unbearable, but his whole body hurt like never before; from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail. He instinctively tried moving his legs, only to find that he couldn't. They felt too heavy for him, almost as if there was something holding them down. He tried opening his eyes, but his head grew heavy and his sight grew dim as soon as he did so. All he could see were blurred shapes and smudges all around him; shadows cornering his eyes.

Kion closed his eyes again and let out a low groan. It was supposed to be a cry for help, but he found himself unable to speak. More than that, he felt numb; as if he was awake but sleeping at the same time.

Both Taka and Kopa looked at the cub in shock, Kopa almost choking with the portion in his mouth that he was supposed to swallow. They stood in silence for a while, wondering if they had really heard something from the cub. Just when they were beginning to doubt they had, Kion let out another groan, his paws twitching as he sniffed.

"He's waking up!" Kopa whispered excitedly, looking at the cub and then at Taka several times. "I think he's even opening his eyes!"

Meanwhile, Taka just stared down at the cub in his paws with his mouth slightly open in awe. Although he hadn't said it out loud to avoid upsetting Kopa, he was almost entirely sure that that cub was not going to wake up ever again after seeing the way Kopa found him. But now, it seemed that he was starting to regain consciousness, even if slowly. Kopa leaned down to take a better look, but Taka pushed him away with his elbow.

"Back away, Kipawa." Taka whispered. "If he really is waking up, we better give him space to breathe. And we wouldn't want to scare him."

"Oh, right." Kopa jumped up and stood in front of Taka so that he could look down at the cub in his paws without overwhelming him. Kopa could barely control the smile on his face, and it seemed to grow more and more every time the cub did something that showed that he was waking up. However, after twitching a few more parts of his body and letting out a few more groans, the cub went still again when Kion passed out.

"What?" Kopa shook his head as he sat down and lowered his head in disappointment, his ears falling back. "I thought he was finally going to wake up."

"Kipawa, he has been through a lot. He may have been through even more than we know. You can't expect him to just stand up and start running around. It will take him more than just a few minutes to wake up." Taka said, looking up at Kopa in front of him. "But the signs he's given us already mean that he is getting better. Kuwa na subira, Kipawa."

Kopa rolled his eyes and scoffed.

Taka squinted. He didn't like it when the teen showed any sign of disrespect or disobedience. "In case it wasn't clear, _be patient._ " Taka said through his clenched teeth. When mad, Kopa could be really hard to deal with.

Kopa squinted back at Taka.

"I know what that means, alright?" He sighed. "I just hate waiting. And it makes me mad if I don't know what's going to happen next." Kopa said as he started to pace around in front of Taka, in hopes that walking would help him to calm down. "I mean, what if he doesn't show us any other signs? Or what if he doesn't make it? Or what if he wakes up when we're sleeping and runs away? Or what if..."

As Kopa spoke, Taka raised an eyebrow at him.

"What happened with you?"

"Or what if- What?" Kopa stopped walking when his train of thought was interrupted by Taka's question. "What do you mean?"

"What happened to you that made you such a control freak?" Taka detailed his question. "This doesn't seem to be a normal level of anxiety. And you act like that a lot. Like when I fell from that tree and you almost lost it, even after I told you I was fine. What happened to you that made you so paranoid over everything?"

Kopa looked at Taka and then looked away, avoiding his question. Taka nodded.

"Something awful, wasn't it?"

Kopa sighed and approached Taka again, standing in front of him again, but avoided looking at Taka's eyes. Instead, he looked at Taka's leg, where he had a huge scar right on the knee that he refused to talk about. Kopa nodded toward it.

"You've got your secrets, I've got mine." Kopa said with a frown, defiant.

Taka smiled and nodded, laughing under his breath. Kopa seemed surprised.

"It's alright, Kipawa. Sorry for asking. But don't worry, this cub will be just fine, and he's going to wake up soon. You don't have to be worried about him."

Kopa's frown disappeared and he finally gathered enough courage to look Taka in the eye again. The old lion was looking at him with a smile. The way Taka had spoken so softly about the situation almost made Kopa feel guilty for holding back information about his past, but it did make him feel bad about the way he had spoken with his master.

"Sorry, Asante, I-"

Taka shook his head. "Just lay down here and finish your meal, alright? Maybe this little boy here will wake up before you're done."

Kopa's eyes widened a little, but he then smiled and nodded, lying back down beside Taka. However, before he could go back to eating, he rubbed his head against Taka's mane and smiled. Taka gasped softly in surprise, but just nodded and smiled back at him as Kopa finally went back to eating.

* * *

For the first time in his life, Kion didn't know where he was.

The first thing he thought as soon as he had regained full consciousness was ' _This thing of waking up and not knowing where you are is the weirdest thing ever'._ The second thing he thought was ' _Why does my head hurt so much?'_ , and finally, ' _Where am I?'_

When he opened his eyes, his vision was blurry. So blurry that he couldn't see a thing other than shadows and blots around him. But unlike the first time, this time his sight actually became clearer, and soon he was able to see again. He saw a pair of brown paws around him that he was sure did not belong to anyone he knew. Beyond those paws there was the horizon, and the walls before said horizon let him know he was inside a cave.

Those surroundings didn't seem like anywhere he had ever been before.

He peeked up above him and saw that the lion holding him had a black mane and he was looking right and talking to someone that apparently was by his side, but Kion's position didn't allow him to see the lion his holder was talking to. If he wanted to see them both he would have to move, and he wasn't quite sure if letting those strangers know that he was awake was a good idea.

Kion was confused for a while, but then he remembered it. He was chasing those hyenas back into the Outlands when the trunk he was standing on broke and he fell on the river, being dragged by it. He shivered in pain when all the injuries he had on his body decided to make themselves known and suddenly his whole body hurt, especially his head. He couldn't help but let out a cry.

Kion froze in place when the brown lion looked down at him, closing his eyes and hoping that he hadn't notice that he had woken up.

"Do you think he's going to wake up anytime soon?" The lion on the right asked. He sounded young, yet much older than Kion.

"I don't really know. He's been like this for quite some time now. He shouldn't be off for much longer." The lion that was holding Kion responded with his deep voice and weird accent. Kion could feel the lion's throat shake softly against his body when he spoke and that made him shiver.

Who were those? Kion tried to remember them, but other than being dragged by the river, he had no memories at all. He came to the conclusion that those lions must have found him while he was unconscious. That was a good sign, right? If they had found him and brought him to their cave, it could only mean that they were good. If they were evil, they would have killed him already.

Kion sighed softly. He was hungry and he needed to go home. There was still a chance those lions were evil, but he didn't have many options left in the situation he was.

"Uh, hello?" Kion whispered as he looked up.

His holder gasped and looked down. When his bright green eyes met Kion's hazel ones, the cub held his breath in fear.

* * *

Simba paced around inside the Pride Rock, a frown on his face as he looked down. Kion had been missing for over an hour now, and he was starting to get worried. His head shot up when he heard the sound of several steps and he rushed to the entrance of the cave. Just when he got there, the rest of the lion guard, Kiara, her friends and Zazu arrived.

"Anything?" Simba asked as he looked to all the cubs in front of him. But before they could even answer, the worried looks on their faces let Simba know the answer.

"Zazu and I followed the river until the very end of the Pride Lands." Ono reported. "Kion is nowhere near it."

"Jasiri helped Bunga and me to look through the Outlands. She said she hasn't seen him in a while, and he wasn't there either." Fuli sighed. "She even sneaked into Janja's lair to see if they had kidnaped him or something, but I don't think the bad hyenas are involved this time."

"I'm sorry, dad." Kiara said, stepping closer to Simba. She made her best not to let the tears she was holding in run down her face. "Tiifu, Zuri and I looked all over the Pride Lands and asked all the animals we saw, but nobody has seen Kion. At least not since he disappeared." She scratched one of her paws with the other. "I'm... I'm starting to get worried."

Simba looked down at his daughter. He wanted to tell her that Kion was certainly alright and the he was going to come back soon, but as much as he wanted to believe that himself, he couldn't say something that he wasn't sure about. Simba nodded and bit his lower lip, but then he sighed and looked down at everyone. All the animals there looked up at him, expecting Simba to give them new orders.

"We must keep looking for him. Now that we know Kion is not on the river and neither with Janja, we must make sure he really isn't in the Pride Lands before we think of looking anywhere else. Kiara, I'm sure there are places where you didn't have time to look. You're the leader of this little team for now. I want you all to go with her, and make sure you tell them exactly where to look. And ask Timon and Pumbaa for help too."

"Got it!" Bunga exclaimed as everyone looked at Kiara.

Kiara looked at all of those animals and smiled as a new sense of responsibility came to her. She looked up at her father and nodded before running out of the Pride Rock, followed by everyone.

"Zazu," Simba called when he saw that the blue bird was about to follow his daughter as well.

Zazu stopped and turned around, landing in front of Simba and making a reverence. "Yes, my king?"

Simba waited until Kiara and her friends were out of sight and looked down at Zazu with a more serious look.

"I need you to make me a favor, and you can't tell anyone about it." Simba looked around, as if to make sure they were alone. "Where is Nala?"

"She's hunting with the other lionesses, sire." Zazu informed him.

Simba sighed. "Do you have any idea if she knows that Kion is missing?"

"Well, I haven't told her about that, and I don't know if anyone else has; although it's very unlikely anyone would disturb the queen as she hunts. But I believe that if she knew, she would have come back here immediately to help us all look for him."

"You're right." Simba nodded. "Zazu, I need you to come with me to the Outlands."

"To the Outlands? But sire, Fuli was certain that Kion wasn't there with Janja-"

"It's not Janja that I'm worried about." Simba interrupted.

"But then- Oh." Zazu said, his eyes widening when realization hit him. He shivered in fear. "You... Do you really think _she_ may be involved in this, sire?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Simba sighed as he paced around and pondered. "The Outlands are right after that river. If Kion fell in there like his friends said, he would become an easy prey for them... And for her. If she saw him, she would want to kill him. Even after what she did with Kopa, I don't think her desire for revenge is quite satisfied yet. If we don't find Kion soon, I think there's a huge possibility that she..."

Simba growled and scratched the ground as he panted through his clenched teeth. Hatred and resentment weren't things that he felt very often, but when he did, it was almost like he became someone else. Especially where Kopa's murder was concerned.

"If she did anything to Kion, I swear for my father that I will-"

"Calm down, sire!" Zazu rushed out as he flew to Simba's face. "It's never good to just jump to conclusions. And I don't believe that Zira is even aware that you have a second son. We have to remain calm to help look for Kion. Sire."

Simba gave a step back in shock, but shook his head and looked outside, sighing. They had only a few hours left before the night came; and that wasn't good.

"Zazu, I need you to fly to where all the exiled lions live and check on how things are going there. Look for Kion, but be careful. Make sure Z- she doesn't have him there. If you see anything suspicious, anything at all, you have to hurry back here and tell me. I'll go tell Nala about this, and warn the lionesses to keep an eye out for him." Simba furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes, sire!" Zazu nodded as he began to fly. Simba left the Pride Rock right after him, but ran on a different direction.

Meanwhile, Rafiki was on his tree watching all the commotion from afar. He shook his head and looked up at the sky.

"I don't know what your plan is, Mufasa; but it better be good. Really good." He said as he crossed his arms and shook his head.

* * *

 **Sorry if you guys were expecting Kion to wake up and talk with Taka and Kopa, but the pacing has to be just right. Consider this a transition chapter. The next one will be full of action and longer than this, I promise.**

 **I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!**


	9. Questions

**I wrote this in a hurry, so I apologize if it's not that good, but I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

There was an unsettling silence in the cave when green eyes met hazel eyes.

Kion looked up at the unknown dark lion that stared down at him, equally in shock. His little chest went up and down quickly as his breath shortened; thousands of doubts and fears going through his mind. The pair of bright green eyes that were locked on him made Kion forget that there were three of them there as he was too scared of the brown lion to even think of the other lion he had heard earlier.

"He woke up." Taka said, stating the obvious as the cub in his paws blinked in confusion.

Taka obviously wasn't talking to Kion, seeing how he had said 'he' instead of 'you', but he didn't seem to be talking to anyone else either as his face held a vacant expression; as if his brain refused to believe something he was seeing with his own eyes and that caused a conflict in his head. And perhaps that was true, because deep inside, he still doubted that that cub was going to survive.

Up to that moment.

"Uh, yeah, I suppose so." Kion whispered in response. That hardly felt like something that was appropriated to say in that moment, but the words just slipped out his mouth before he could help it. And even if the lion hadn't spoken directly to him, he just felt like he had to say something. He was no longer terrified like he was just a few seconds before when he woke up, but Kion was still scared of what that lion might do to him.

"I told you he would make it!" An excited voice on the side exclaimed. "Hey there, little guy!"

Kion cringed; both because the sudden words surprised him as he had forgotten about the other lion he had heard earlier and because of how he had been called 'little guy' by someone he didn't even know. However, the friendly words made Kion feel like it was safe to stand up and take a better look at his surroundings and at his.. _. rescuers_. The word didn't seem to fit at all, but overall, it felt somehow right to call them that way.

Kion struggled to get up, but soon he was standing up on all fours. The brown lion took the hint and unfolded his paws that were surrounding Kion, giving the cub more space to stand up. Kion's legs felt tingly and he assumed it was because of the lack of blood on them as he hadn't moved them in hours. A few seconds later, he felt confident enough to walk, and gave a few steps back, backing away from the brown lion in front of him. He acknowledged the yellow lion on the side, but he was focused on the brown one.

"Are you alright?" The brown lion asked with a small smile, tilting his head as he looked down at Kion.

Kion gulped as he studied that stranger. Kion had been in a defensive position ever since he stood up, but as soon as the lion spoke, it felt like he didn't have to. He surely _looked_ threatening, as if he had a bad aura around him; but his kind words and soft voice contradicted that. Kion frowned in confusion as he left his defensive position and took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving the brown lion in front of him.

His voice was deep and echoing, carrying an accent Kion had never heard before; and even his kind words would have been scary had he not said them with a smile on his face. It was impossible not to notice the scar on his left eye, but the most impactful trace of past battles that lion had surely was his left ear - or what was left of it. And by the way it had poorly scarred, Kion could tell it had been violently shredded, probably by teeth.

Very sharp teeth.

Kion almost allowed his knees to buckle, but decided to focus on something else before he could be seen shaking in fear.

The lion had the brightest green eyes Kion had ever seen, and he had to admit they were quite beautiful. Some other lions and cubs from the Pridelands had green eyes, but their eyes were a dark shade of green. That lion's eyes almost shined, even in the fading light of the approaching sunset. His fur, however, didn't follow the same pattern. He had the darkest coat Kion had ever seen, and he didn't even know lions could have a black mane as all the males he knew - Simba, Mufasa and himself - had red ones.

It wasn't until he had eyed the lion long enough for it to become an awkward silence that he remembered he had asked him a question.

"Uh, yeah, I suppose so." Kion repeated, feeling like that was the only sentence he could say, as if his brain was programmed to say that only. Luckily, it fit the situation. As he said it, he looked down at his legs and then at his body, as if to make sure he was indeed fine.

Taka couldn't help but chuckle at the cub's obvious nervousness, and memories flooded his mind. Memories of the night he had found Kopa, and he had had that same reaction upon seeing Taka. As the memories came back to him, he frowned and glanced at Kopa - who still stood by his side - and then back at the cub. Although it's not like one could say they were twins, the two did share a weird semblance; especially where fur color was concerned, even if Kopa was a little darker. Taka did find that weird, but brushed it off as he stood up and looked down at the cub in front of him.

Kion gasped when the lion stood up, scared and not sure that he was safe; but oddly enough, Kion didn't feel the need to defend himself. The lion's expression seemed to say that he was good, but Kion knew that they could be tricking him.

"In case you're wondering, no, we do not mean any harm." Taka said with a smile and a roll of his eyes. "We won't hurt you."

Kion knew better than fully trusting a stranger right away, but maybe he could give that lion the benefit of the doubt. After all, if he wanted him dead, he could have killed him with ease while he was out.

"Yeah, little guy. You don't have to be afraid." The yellow lion said.

Only then Kion remembered that there was a second lion and finally looked aside to see how he was. The cub held his breath and his eyes widened as he shrank a little, his ears folding back.

The young lion was much bigger than Kion imagined he would be when he first heard his voice. Despite being younger than the brown lion, there was no doubt that he was stronger than him; with a larger body and more developed muscles. He was a teenager, a little older than what Kion expected him to be considering the voice he had. His mane had already started to grow out, a thick line of fur that started on his nape and went all the way down his neck. On the top of his head there was a huge tuft of fur that fell over his eyes, unlike Kion's that fell backwards. Now that Kion thought about it, he couldn't help but notice that the brown lion's mane and his own had the same shape.

The lion's eyes were what caught Kion's attention the most. They were blue like Nala's eyes, and just like the brown lion's eyes, they seemed to shine. But it wasn't just his eyes that had Kion's attention. Something about that lion was oddly familiar; his fur and mane color, even his face and body shape. In the corners of Kion's mind Kiara's description of Kopa started to echo, and Kion gulped at how well that lion matched what she had said.

That lion reminded him of someone he had never even met.

Kopa looked from side to side and sat down, cleaning his throat as he tried to find a way to end that awkward silence. "So, what's your name? Can you remember it? " He asked with a smile, trying not to intimidate the cub even more.

Kion could not think rationally. He barely had time to process that he once had a brother that was murdered by one of his great uncle Scar's followers, and now... He knew that that lion couldn't be Kopa... Could he? Well, his father never mentioned a corpse; in fact he said they never found Kopa. If he had been murdered it was possible that whoever killed him got rid of the body... But what if he was never killed in the first place?

"Kion." Kion said after shaking his head. "My name's Kion."

Kopa's eyes widened and he had to make an effort not to let his jaw drop.

 _Nyasi Yangu…_ Kopa mentally cursed.

"Kion..." Taka looked up and pondered, not noticing Kopa's reaction after hearing Kion's name. "A very old word for _taken_ , not used much anymore. Unusual choice for a name, I like it."

Kion gave a shy smile and looked at the brown lion that looked down at him with a smile as well. He still frightened him a little, but something told Kion he wasn't dangerous at all - despite his appearance that clearly showed that he had gotten into more than just a couple of fights in his life.

"I'm Taka." The lion continued, introducing himself.

Kion looked down and bit his lip as he thought. "Taka... It means dirt." Kion said with a smile, proud of himself for remembering what that word meant, but then he frowned when he realized what he had said. It sounded so mean. What kind of parent would give their son a name that meant something bad? He nervously smiled and tried to think of what to say. "Is it because of your fur color? I- I had never seen a brown lion before."

Taka shrugged. "Yeah, sure, because of my fur color. Brown." He muttered through his clenched teeth, as if that wasn't true. However, he quickly smiled again. "So, _je kuzungumza Swahili_? Kipawa and I do."

Kion's ears folded once more. _Kipawa_. So that lion's name wasn't Kopa after all. Kion briefly looked at him and noticed how the teenager had empty eyes and looked at no particular direction; as if he was there physically, but his mind and soul had left the body and that was just an empty container left behind. He didn't even seem to be hearing what the two other lions were saying, let alone listening to them.

"Uh, I sort of do, but not really." Kion blushed lightly and shrugged, looking back at the brown lion. "Just a few words and phrases that are used every day. I understand it better than I speak it."

"Well, we speak it fluently. I'm pretty sure that after a few days here with us you'll be speaking it just as well. Right, Kipawa?" Taka asked, turning his head to look at Kopa. However, Taka frowned in confusion when he noticed how absent the teenager was, as if he was stressed. "Uh, Kipawa? Are you alright?"

"I- I have to go out and take some fresh air." Kopa rushed out, his breath speeding up as he stood up and turned around to face the entrance of the cave. "It was really nice to meet you, Kion; I hope you're ok, I- I'll be back soon. And I suppose you already caught it, but just in case you haven't, my name is _Kipawa_." Kopa said, emphasizing the last word.

Taka stared at Kopa in confusion as he expected him to tell the cub what his real name was. Kopa just looked at Taka with pleading eyes and tilted his head toward Kion, as if he was saying _don't ask, just play along_.

"So, hum, when will you be back, Kipawa?" Taka asked; doing his best not to let the cub notice that there was something off going on. And although he'd never admit it, he was jealous. Taka had been the only one to ever call Kopa that way, and the idea of letting someone they just met use that nickname made him… Uncomfortable.

Kopa turned his head and looked straight ahead.

"Soon." He replied dryly as he jumped out of the cave, never looking back at Taka and Kion behind him as he disappeared into the savannah.

"Don't stay out for too long, the sun will set soon!" Taka yelled, wondering if Kopa had even heard him.

Kion looked at the old lion and saw that Taka kept looking at the entrance of the cave even after Kopa was gone. Taka frowned in confusion, wondering what that weird reaction was about. First Kopa was all excited to see the cub wake up, and when he finally did, he suddenly got grumpy and left.

"Is he ok?" Kion asked, looking at Taka.

"I… I suppose so. Kipawa can be… A little stubborn at times. Although I expected that after finding you and bringing you here he would be excited to talk to you." Taka said, his eyes never leaving the entrance of the cave.

Kion's ears perked up. "Wait, he was the one who found me? Uh, where did he find me? And… Where am I exactly?"

Taka chuckled, looking aside to look at the cub.

"You're confused, alright." He then looked to the opposite side and saw the two untouched fishes that laid there. "I'm sorta hungry. Wanna join me for dinner?"

Kion tilted his head, feeling like Taka was trying to avoid the subject. He was about to politely refuse the food when his stomach grumbled and his hunger spoke louder than his manners. He smiled and nodded, shyly following the older lion. He lay down in front of Taka and the older lion pushed a fish until it was in front of Kion and the cub held it with his paws.

"Are you sure I can eat this? Doesn't it belong to Kipawa?" Kion asked.

"Oh, no. He's already eaten when you were out. I brought home three fishes; that one is for you. Don't worry, Kion."

"Oh, alright. Thanks then." Kion said before he began to eat.

The first minutes of their meal was spent in an awkward silence as Kion stuffed the fish down his throat. He did not realize how hungry he was.

"So," Taka said as he folded his paws in front of him, "You already know my name and Kipawa's, and you know we won't hurt you. But I know there are many things you want to know about us; and also many things I want to know about you. So why don't we make a deal? You ask me everything you want to know, and then I ask you what I want to know. Sounds good?"

Kion swallowed the portion he had been chewing and smiled at Taka. "Ok, I guess that can work."

Taka smiled back. "You go first. I suppose you're way more confused than I am."

Kion nodded. "Where am I? I mean, what place is this? I've never been on this part of the savannah before."

"The Northern Plain. It's not exactly a plain, but the name stuck." Taka shrugged.

"Oh. How… How far am I from the Pride Lands?"

Taka chocked on his fish, his eyes widened in shock as he coughed.

"Taka? Are you alright?" Kion asked, startled.

"You're from the Pride Lands?" Taka asked with wild eyes.

"Uh, yeah. I live there. Are we too far from there?"

Taka sighed and looked down at the cub, cleaning his throat and pretending his outburst never happened. "If you leave at dawn and don't stop for anything, you'll get to the Pride Lands right before the sun sets. You just need to make sure you start your journey in the right direction."

Kion seemed surprised. The river had dragged him long enough for him to be one day away from home? Going back wasn't going to be a cinch.

"How did you end up here? If you don't mind me asking you. I mean, Kipawa found you almost dead by the riverside. Were you dragged here by the river all the way from the Pride Lands?" Taka asked, trying to calculate the distance between the two places; and he found it was way too long for a cub to survive.

"I think so. I was chasing some hyenas out of the Pride Lands and I stood on a trunk above the river, and it broke. I was dragged for a while, but I passed out after I hit a rock. And then I woke up here."

"Wow, I can't believe you- Wait." Taka stopped talking as he processed what Kion had said. " _You_ were chasing hyenas out of your territory? But you're just a cub."

"Oh, yeah. You see, I'm the leader of this thing called the lion guard! It's the team that protects the Pride Lands!"

Taka's eyes shot open as he gasped in shock a second time, and only then he noticed the mark on Kion's shoulder. The cub looked at him with a confused face. Taka gulped and looked down as he wrapped his brain around what he had just heard.

 _Oh, god._

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 **I'm so sorry to keep teasing you with backstories and secrets (hehe), but you may figure out some of them on your own if you're familiar enough with the TLK/TLG universe. As for why Kopa was shocked... That will be explained later.**

 **Thanks for reading, see you next chapter!**


	10. Borrowed and taken

**Hey guys, sorry for how long it took me to update this. I have 3 other fics to update and I really do feel like this one is the one I feel the worst about, I just don't feel like it's as good as the others. Anyway, transition chapter again. Not much happens, but important to the story. Hope you like it!**

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"And then something happened to my roar, you see, it was super loud! So loud that it echoed through all of the Pride Lands! I went to tell my dad about it, and he told me that I had received the gift of the roar, meaning that I was the new leader of the Lion Guard. It's a legendary team that protects the Pride Lands from harm, but it had died out after that despiteful Scar destroyed them." Kion said with a smile, excited.

"Wow, that's amazing." Taka said with a sigh and not amazed at all; trying to pretend to be surprised and entertained by Kion's story, but despising every moment of it as it brought him memories he hoped he would be able to forget and secrets he would never tell.

"And after that, I assembled the new guard! I needed to find the strongest, fastest, bravest and keenest of sight. Those were my friends Beshte, Fuli, Bunga and Ono. My dad criticized my choices at first, but later that day we rescued my sister! She almost died in a stampede! If it weren't for us, she would have been killed. Then we scared the hyenas away, and ever since the Lion Guard has been protecting the Pride Lands from any harm."

"That's great." Taka said with another bored sigh, turning his head to the side for a moment so that Kion wouldn't see it when he rolled his eyes.

Kion was about to continue talking when Taka almost violently stood up and walked to the entrance of the cave, leaving the cub behind without any previous notice. Kion watched it with his mouth slightly agape as Taka sat on the entrance, but cleaned his throat and stood up too, following the older lion. He jogged to get by Taka's side and sat down as well, looking up at Taka.

They stood in silence for a while, Taka watching the horizon ahead and Kion looking up at the older lion.

"Are you ok?" Kion asked after a while, his ears folding back.

"Of course I am." Taka replied sharply, looking straight ahead at the horizon and with an unreadable expression in his face. "I'm just starting to get a little worried. Kipawa should be back by now. I can't imagine why it's taking him so long... But if the roar we heard earlier really was yours, then I guess there's no danger around. But still, you know, he usually doesn't stay out for this long."

Kion nodded in understanding.

"What are you two?" The cub asked.

Taka frowned and looked aside to look down at Kion.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry if I'm being too nosy, but you seem a little too old to be his father... What are you two, exactly? Are you his grandfather? It's just; you two don't look that much alike." Kion said, shrinking slightly under Taka's gaze.

"Oh, I got what you meant now. Well, we aren't exactly related. His parents abandoned him when he was around your age because of a drought that happened in their land. You know, when the food is short some lions get rid of the cubs and of the elders. Fewer mouths to feed mean more food for the strongest. I found him and he's been with me ever since." Taka looked down and sighed as he pondered. "I could swear it feels like yesterday when I think about it. But it has been so long… He's almost an adult now."

Kion nodded and sighed in relief.

"That's, that's really something admirable. I mean, most lions wouldn't take in a cub that has nothing to do with them. So, since you raised him, is he your son? You know, family is not all about blood." He smiled at Taka.

"Hum..." Taka lay down and shrugged. "Not really. I did take him in and raised him, but I don't feel like I ever adopted him as a son. I do consider him my family, just without any specific role. Some days we act like siblings, some days like father and son; we get along just fine."

"That's really cool." Kion said as he lay down by Taka's side. However, the smile on his face quickly became a sad frown. Taka took notice of it and looked at Kion with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you alright, Kion?"

"Uh? Oh, yeah, I am." Kion rushed out as he closed his eyes and wiped away some tears with his paws. "I just, I really miss home. I miss my dad, and my mom, and my sister, and my friends. I never really thought I'd miss them all so much… But then again, I had never been separated from them before."

"I sort of know that feeling." Taka nodded absent-mindedly and muttered. "You never really know how much you love them until they go away and you don't have them around anymore…"

"They must be worried sick about me and looking for me, but... They'll never find me here." Kion's eyes got watery and his ears folded back, his muzzle twitching slightly. Taka hissed when he noticed the cub was about to cry, not knowing how to deal with that. He looked ahead and pretended he wasn't seeing that, but when Kion sniffed again he sighed and looked down at him.

"Look, it's not like you were never going to see them again or anything like that. The Pride Lands are not that far away from here, it's just one day of walking. Well, two days because we will need to stop to eat and get some rest. But you're going to be alright, and sooner than you think you'll be there with your family again."

"Uh, we?" Kion said, his eyes widening. "Do you mean you're actually going to take me there?"

Taka raised an eyebrow. "What, did you think we were going to send you alone? Of course Kipawa and I are going with you. You're just a cub; you'd die or get lost."

Kion pouted and tilted his head. "Excuse me, I'm the leader of the Lion Guard and I have the gift of the roar. I have faced hyenas and much worse! I'm not just some token cub."

"Oh, does that mean you want to go by yourself then?" Taka said smugly as he smiled. "Because if that's what you wish, I promise I won't stand in your way. Just go in that direction and you'll get there in a day or two."

"Uh, on second thought, I might want some company on my way there." Kion chuckled awkwardly when he looked ahead and saw how far he was from home. "And, really, thank you. You know, for taking me in and for taking me home. I would probably be dead by now if it weren't for you two."

"Don't mention it." Taka said, stroking Kion's head with his paw and ruffling his tuft of fur. Kion giggled shortly before yawning. "Ok, you should get some rest now. You've had a long day and you're going to need some rest if we're going to take you home tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Kion said in surprise.

"Yeah, I mean, you're fine to walk, aren't you? And you miss your family, so the sooner you get there, the better. Also, I've taken care of Kipawa already; I'm not taking care of another cub for longer than I have to. You may not realize it, but you really are a handful." Taka chuckled. "Why, do you think you can't make it tomorrow? Do you need some more time to rest? If so, that's ok."

"No, no; it's fine by me." Kion yawned again as he laid his head on his paws and closed his eyes. "Tomorrow it is. Thank you so much, Taka."

"Again, don't mention it. Get some rest now, ok?"

"Alright, but I really want to stay awake so that I can thank Kipawa for rescuing me and…" Kion said, stopping mid-sentence to yawn with his eyes closing against his will. "Ask him if we can go home tomorrow."

"I'm sure it's fine by him. He's always up to any kind of exciting adventure, you know, not much happens here. And you can thank him once you wake up. You can barely keep your eyes open." Taka said, slightly amused.

Kion nodded and rubbed his eyes, closing them and finally dozing off. Soon enough, he was in a heavy sleep. Taka looked up innocently and shook his head as he stood up and carefully lifted Kion from the ground, taking him to back of the cave so that he'd be warmer and protected from the wind. The cub was so tired that his slumber remained undisturbed despite being carried. Taka softly laid him on the ground and made him comfortable before he lay beside him.

As he watched Kion sleeping, Taka sighed and thought of everything he had been through up to that point. Just a few years before, he never thought he would be there, taking care of Simba's son – Simba, who he once considered his nemesis. After all, he had taken everything Scar had away from him.

Scar hated Simba and he would have hated Kion, but Taka didn't care. He didn't know why he bothered to talk to Kion, but he found that it was rather interesting. He reminded him greatly of young Kopa, both because of his personality and because of his appearance. Sometimes, they even looked too much alike.

Although worried and wanting to be up to wait for Kopa to return, Taka found that he was rather sleepy himself. He tried to tell himself not to be worried and told himself that Kopa was strong and independent and that soon he would be back, but that did not mean he wasn't nervous about the fact that he hadn't returned yet.

"Had known this is where I was going to end up…" He sighed as he laid his head down and closed his eyes.

* * *

When Kopa walked into the cave, the sun had already gone down and it was already night time. The stars shining above reminded him that he had stayed out for longer than he meant to, but he didn't exactly feel guilty about that.

Once Taka and Kion came into view, he stopped walking and sighed, sitting down. He regretted taking that stupid cub home, he regretted running away from home, he regretted everything he had done. His past was something he was willing to forget, and suddenly that one cub brought back everything that brought him so much pain.

There was a part of him telling him that that cub couldn't be his brother; that it would be too much of a coincidence; but his looks, his name and the mark on his shoulder were obvious giveaways.

When Nala was pregnant with Kiara, Simba always said that they were going to call the cub Kion if it was a boy.

Kopa and Kion; borrowed and taken.

Of course Kion had to be chosen to be the new leader.

Kopa shook his head and rolled his eyes, walking next to Taka and silently lying down by Taka's side. He closed his eyes and hoped he'd be able to get some rest soon and prayed that he'd fall asleep fast.

"You're late." Taka said without changing position, which startled Kopa at first, but he calmed down when he realized who it was.

"Sorry Asante, I didn't realize how late it was." Kopa said, scooting closer to Taka and speaking as low as he could so that he wouldn't wake up the cub sleeping nearby.

"Where were you anyway?" Taka asked, again without changing positions and without even opening his eyes.

"Just… Just taking some fresh air." Kopa said, gulping. "I felt bad for some reason. By the way, I'm taking Kion home first thing tomorrow."

"I was talking to him about that earlier." Taka said. "He really wants to go back, so I think that's the best thing to do. We leave when the sun comes up."

"We?" Kopa exclaimed, raising his head from the ground to look at Taka. "Asante, I'm sorry, but you're not going. I can take him by himself. The Pride Lands are way too far, it's a trip that lasts over a day, you're nuts if you think you can-"

"You're not my father, Kipawa." Taka let out a chuckle. "And you underestimate me. I can easily make that trip and come back. Even if I do have a bad leg, it's not like I was going to die from it. I'm not letting you go alone."

"Asante…"

"Good night to you too, Kipawa." Taka rushed out with a smug smile. "I'm tired. We can talk more about that when we wake up, alright?"

"But…" Kopa said, ready to start a discussion, but he realized that Taka wasn't going to listen to him. He seldom did when the subject was himself or his health. Not only that, Kion would most likely wake up if he began talking. "Fine. But don't think I'm not talking to you about this tomorrow."

Taka did nothing but shake his head and giggle.

"Night, Asante."

"Night, Kipawa."

Kopa then sighed in defeat and snuggled up closer to Taka, rubbing his head on his mane. The darkness did not allow Kopa to see it, but Taka smiled when he did so. After that, the night finally became peaceful, the only sound to be heard was the low and steady breath of the three lions and the wind outside.

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 **For those of you who don't know, Kion means taken and Kopa means borrowed.**

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed! See yah next chapter.**


	11. Judgment

**Though chapter. Hard to make three different universes come together (TLK1 - TLK2 - TLG) and still include some headcannons, but I did my best. Hope this makes sense.**

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The sky had barely started to change colors from a pitch-dark black to a bright orange when Kopa opened his eyes; being greeted by a few lonely stars that could still be seen shining above outside the cave as the sunlight still wasn't strong enough to overshadow them all.

With his eyes slightly heavy from not sleeping enough the night before, Kopa took a deep breath and stood up, stretching out his body and letting out a loud yawn. He made sure to walk on the softest parts of his paws so that his steps would be as silent as possible and thus wouldn't wake Taka or Kion up. Taka was sleeping right by Kopa's side, while Kion slept a few feet away from the brown lion. They both seemed to be sleeping heavily and the sound of their breaths was the only sound to be heard in that quiet beginning of day.

Kopa walked up to the entrance of the cave and looked ahead with a serious expression, trying to admire the beauty of the nature as the animals began to wake up and peace reigned in hopes that it would help him calm down, but his mind was too full of thoughts for that to happen. He sighed, sat down and furrowed his eyebrows.

It was weird to think he was going to go to the Pride Lands that day. That place, or just the mere thought of it; brought him too many memories and weird sensations. That was the reason why he never even thought of it. His old home was just a faint presence that lingered in the very back of his mind and was to this day one of the few things he wished he could forget. Still, it was hard not to have feelings for the place where you were born and raised, especially if it was such a great place like the Pride Lands.

He sighed again and thought of what he was going to do. It was simple enough; he was going to take Kion there, but just to the very borders of the Pride Lands, of course. He had to be careful so that nobody would see him; especially those who could recognize him - like Zazu or Kiara. Simba and Nala shouldn't be a problem as the adults very rarely left the Pride Rock, except for hunting, and because his father was usually out for being a king.

A king, like Kopa was destined to be someday - once the sun set for his father's time it would rise for him, for his reign. He was the rightful heir, and he would carry that burden for as long as he lived. What for some could be a blessing and a dream coming true became a title impossible to bear to Kopa. He never asked for any of that, he never asked to be a prince. He didn't want to grow up and be treated as if he was better than everyone else, he didn't want to have to deal with those responsibilities, and he didn't want to be responsible for all the animals in the Pride Lands. It seemed too much and nothing about it seemed fun.

He wanted to have fun. He wanted to be actually useful, he wanted to go out and help animals rather than deal with them diplomatically and he wanted to the see the world outside the borders of the Pride Lands. However, from a young age he had always been told that he could not, that that would never happen. His father had his entire life planned for him; every single step he gave was towards a preset future. All directions led to the same place; there was no escape, no options.

Until Kopa found that yes, there was a way he could escape the fate that was given to him. He could escape that, there was another way. All he had to do was prove he was good enough, and that should be easy. He had always been a fierce lion; it could have worked. Kopa had to try, but he could never see what was going to be the consequence of his actions. He knew that there was going to be a price for giving up his post, but he didn't know at what cost that would come...

"Kipawa?" A soft voice came from behind him, snapping him out of his thoughts. He shook his head back to reality and looked over his shoulder to see a sleepy Kion walking towards him. Kopa shook his head and sighed as the cub sat by his side with a smile.

"Hey." Kopa replied dryly, not even bothering to look down at Kion as he did so.

Kion noticed Kopa's unfriendly voice and shrank a little, but then forced a chuckle and looked ahead too, admiring the view.

"Hum, so, you're going to take me home today?" Kion asked with the most innocent voice he could do. Kipawa had seemed friendly right after Kion woke up, and now he seemed to be controlling himself not to growl at Kion for some unknown reason. Still, Taka had told Kion that they weren't going to hurt him, so he thought he could give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Yeah, what other option do I have?" Kopa murmured and rolled his eyes. "I mean, yeah, that's the plan. We leave as soon as the sun is fully up in the sky and won't stop until it sets, so we'll get to the Pride Lands tomorrow morning. If we're fast enough we can even get there tonight. You should go back to sleep now."

"I'll go soon," Kion suppressed a yawn, "I just wanted to thank you for rescuing me, you know. And for offering to take me home. That really does mean a lot to me."

Kopa's eyes widened as he looked down at the cub. Kion looked up at him with a smile and half closed sleepy eyes. Kopa almost felt sorry for feeling so bitter at Kion just because of his memories; after all, it wasn't like it was Kion's fault that he was Simba's son. Still, seeing how he had been the chosen one and not Kopa made him… Mad. Kopa was stronger than him and that would have made him a great leader; but that fate had gone to precious Kion instead.

However, Kopa realized that Kion still was his little brother and nothing would ever change that.

"You're welcome." Kopa said, his expression softening a little as he lay down. Kion smiled and lay down as well, laying his head between his paws and feeling like he was about to doze off.

"Simba must be worried sick about you. The sooner we leave the better." Kopa stated, holding back the tears that attempted to come out as soon as he thought about his father. "When the sun is fully up, we leave." Kopa then also laid his head between his paws and tried to get some more rest.

"Yeah." Kion mumbled sleepily, already half asleep. However, a few seconds later, his head shot up and his eyes widened. "How do you know my father's name?!"

Kopa's eyes shot open in shock as he mentally cursed himself for being so stupid. Kion was lying by his side, eyeing him with wild eyes; and Kopa looked from side to side as he searched for an excuse.

"Hum… I was there during the princess' presentation. What's her name again? Kia- something…?" Kopa forced a smile.

Kion frowned and pouted, doubtful. Ever since he had first seen Kipawa, he could hear an annoying voice inside his head telling him that that lion was Kopa. The description Kiara gave him matched just too well for that to be a coincidence. But his name was Kipawa, and Taka had told Kion that he found him after Kipawa had been abandoned by his parents as a cub – which of course Simba and Nala would never do. The stories didn't match. But still…

"Kiara, that's her name. She's my sister and the future queen." Kion said with a yawn. "But what were you doing in the Pride Lands during her presentation?"

"My parents were… They were peasant lions. We were trying to find a place to stay and happened to be passing by the Pride Lands when the princess was born." Kopa smiled to disguise his untruthful words. "After that we came here, but there was a food shortage, so they left me behind. That was when Asante found me."

"Asante?"

Kopa looked over his shoulder and nodded toward Taka. "Him. I don't call him Taka, I call him Asante."

Kion looked at Taka and then back at Kopa. "Oh… You call him 'thank you'. That's really nice."

Kopa smiled. "We never really did figure out what kind of relation we have, so I couldn't call him father or brother…" Kopa's smile vanished as he thought of his real father and of his brother – that was right by his side, but didn't know it. Shaking his head to come back to reality he smiled at Kion again. "So he became my Asante and I became his Kipawa. It fits."

Kion nodded, but then tilted his head in confusion. Kopa raised an eyebrow.

"Hum, something wrong?"

"You don't look like a peasant descendant to me. My father told me that they are weak and thin, and that most of them are despiteful. You… You don't match that description." Kion stated, growing suspicious with every sentence Kopa said.

"What you described is a rogue. Rogues and peasants are two different things." Kopa stretched out. "Rogues are good-for-nothing lions who have no moral whatsoever, and yeah, usually they're weak and don't have a Pride or are exiled. Peasants are simply lions without a Pride. All rogues are peasants, but not all peasants are rogues."

Kion nodded in understanding before yawning again, still suspicious and confused but feeling his hopes fading away. He felt like a fool for believing that that lion was his brother Kopa, after all Kopa was dead. Kipawa had nothing to do with it. If he really were Kopa, he would have come back to the Pride Lands. His appearance was just a coincidence, nothing more.

"Now go back to sleep," Kopa said as he laid his head between his paws, "Big day ahead. When the sun's up, we leave."

"Oh, hum, ok." Kion nodded with a sad smile as he smiled and tried to relax. He thought of his father, his mother, sister and even thought of his long lost brother Kopa; imagining how his life would have been had Kopa not been killed.

Little did he know that the lion by his side was fantasizing a life where he had never ran away; their fantasies being uncannily similar.

* * *

Zazu gulped and shrank in fear as he sat on Simba's shoulder, his body shivering with every step his king gave toward the Outlands. The closer they got, the stronger the putrid smell of carrion, blood and dirt would become, causing both the lion and the bird to stick their tongues out in disgust.

"Are you-" Zazu stopped his sentence to take a gulp, "Are you entirely sure this is a good idea, Sire? Going into the Outlands without an escort sounds like suicide to me. I mean, the rogues and the hyenas and the-"

"I know it isn't the best plan," Simba interrupted him, taking careful steps as he got to the dead trunk that served as bridge for the river that demarcated the end of the Pride Lands and the beginning of the Outlands. "But Kion has been missing for over a day now. We've looked all around, he's nowhere to be found. I need to know whether or not he was murder- Whether or not she's involved this time." He said, shaking his head to get rid of unwanted thoughts and memories.

Zazu sighed, straightening himself up and flying away from the lion's shoulder, hovering over Simba instead. "I understand, Sire."

Simba took a deep breath when he finally got to the end of the trunk, springing his claws out just before his paws could touch the dirty red ground that was no longer part of his territory. He stood still for a moment before he began to walk into those lands, eyes open and ears attentive to any sound he heard, as he feared there would be threatens everywhere. However, it was common knowledge that lions avoided going to the borders of their territory as they were more likely to bump into enemies there, so his surroundings had been pretty empty and silent that far.

"Zazu." He called.

"Yes, Sire?" The bird replied from above him.

"Stay alert; let me know whenever you see a li-"

"Well, well, well; who is it we have here?" A familiar voice cooed, interrupting Simba.

Although he did jump back in fear from the unexpected voice, it took him mere seconds to go from startled to angry as he turned his head and his eyes fell upon the very lioness he was looking for. Zazu's eyes widened as he flew down and hid behind Simba's head, trying to hide among his mane.

"Zira…" He hissed through his clenched teeth with a growl.

"Simba, why didn't you say you were coming? I would have fixed the place up a bit. It's not very common for us to have royalty here." She said as she shook her head with a grin, looking around as if she was studying the place.

"Cut the act, Zira," Simba growled again. "I'm not here for your games. And what are you doing here?" He said, growing suspicious as to what she was doing almost at the end of the Outlands.

Her grin disappeared as she frowned and sat down, glaring at the king. "I live here since you exiled me, remember that?" She asked smugly with a raised eyebrow.

Simba's breath sped up. "Quit it, you know what I mean. Why are you here? What are you doing outside of your usual territory?" He demanded, stepping forward.

She rolled her eyes, disguising her fear by taking a deep breath. "You aren't home either. In addition, I'm under no obligation of answering any of your questions. You are not, and will never be my king, especially here. This is a land without king and without law. Careful or you may end up in big trouble." Zira replied, a hint of threaten in her voice, as she stood up and turned around, turning her back at him.

Simba roared and ran past her, jumping in front of her and blocking her way. Zazu held onto the lion's mane, almost falling off his back when he jumped. His move was sudden enough to scare Zira as she let out a gasp, but she quickly shook her head and cleaned her throat to regain her composure. However, she remained crouched down under the king's furious gaze.

"What have you done to him?" Simba demanded again, this time baring his teeth and claws at her. He had a petrified look that made Zira feel like he was going to jump on her throat if she made one single flounce.

Gulping, her eyes widened as she backed away from him in short steps, still lowering her body. Usually she wouldn't fear him and would even attempt to attack, but she could feel that Simba wasn't in his normal state of mind. He had the look of a killer, and surely had the physical potential to be one. "Excuse me?"

"My son!" He snarled, his voice growing so deep among his growls that he could easily be mistaken for Mufasa. "He's missing, and I know you have something to do with it! Spill it! Where is he?"

After several small steps, Zira finally felt that she was far away enough from him to straighten herself up, a look of confusion on her face as she did so. "What are you talking about, _your majesty_?"

Simba's eyes widened at her obviously fake obliviousness before anger took over him. His ears folded back as he lowered himself into a crouch, ready to jump on Zira with no intentions to let her go until her body was left lifeless. She took notice and quickly lowered herself as well shaking mildly, but a fierce tug on Simba's mane snapped him out of his anger-induced trance.

"Sire, please! Doing anything without proof would be going down her level." A shaking Zazu pleaded when Simba looked over his shoulder. He realized the blue bird was afraid of him, and realized he had never felt so angry and so merciless before. Breathing heavy, Simba gulped and shook his head.

"My son. He's missing, and I believe you know what reasons I have to assume that you are behind his disappearance." Simba said, standing tall.

Zira tilted her head in confusion, trying to make any sense out of Simba's words, but then remembering about Kopa. Her eyes widened as she nodded in understanding, cleaning her throat and forcing a grin.

"Still not over him? Come on, it's been ages. You even have a little precious princess now, I was sure you no longer remembered about Kopa…"

Simba roared, stomping his paw. "Don't you dare say his name ever again! You're not worth it! Now quit your sick sadist game, I'm talking about Kion! What have you done to him? Tell me!"

Her eyes widened in legit confusion. "Who?"

Simba could feel anger taking over him again, but closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. "Kion. What have you done to my son?" He asked through his clenched teeth, his breath louder than ever as he wished he could just kill her on the spot as the memories of Kopa came back to his mind.

Zira scoffed. "I don't even know who it is you're talking about. As far as I'm concerned, you only had one son, and his name wasn't Kion, it was K-"

Simba growled and she stopped her sentence.

"Kion, my third child and second son. Where is he?"

She scoffed and shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? I didn't even know you had had another son till now. I'll let you know, I have no idea where he is or what happened to him."

They stood silent for a while, glaring at each other. As much as Zira was tempted to take responsibility for murdering yet another son of Simba just to see him suffer again, she knew better than doing it when she had no escort and when Simba's precious wife wasn't there to calm him down like she usually did. And she could tell that this time, he would have no mercy whatsoever over her like he did last time. Sure he had exiled her, but he had at least let her alive.

"How can I know you're not lying?" Simba backed away a step.

"Oh, please," She scoffed again and rolled her eyes. "If I were to lie, I would lie about having killed him; not the opposite. Heavens know it would be great to see you in despair once more."

Zira grinned and Simba could feel his insides turning in disgust, but realizing she was telling the truth. He could feel a little of relief as he realized that meant Kion hadn't been murdered or kidnapped by her, but also angst as that meant he had no clue as to where Kion could be.

"Very well then." He nodded before turning around and walking away, going toward the trunk.

"Oh, by the way," She called and he stopped to listen to her, but didn't look back. "To answer your previous question, I'm here because I'm looking for my son as well. If you see him, please tell him to come home, ok? Don't hurt my baby." She pleaded with irony.

He took a deep breath and had to control himself not to jump on her once more. He did seek revenge for Kopa, but he would never be able to kill an innocent cub – and Zira knew that. The teasing was almost too unbearable for him, and she could tell by the way he said nothing and rushed out of the Outlands.

As Zira watched Simba leaving, she could not help but sigh and feel bitter. Lying about Kopa had cost her the place she used to have in the Pride Lands, but it had been worth it. Living in exile was nothing compared to the pleasure she felt of seeing Simba in the same pain he had put her though, the pain of losing one you loved – even if it was a lie, it was worth it.

Shaking her head when she felt like she was on the verge of crying, she turned around and went back to looking for her son; still assimilating the new facts that she had just learned about Simba's newest son.

* * *

 **Welp, about time Zira appeared. Did I ever mention she's my favorite from TLK2?**

 **This seems to be controversial in the fandom, especially among shippers, but I really do believe Scar and Zira were husband and wife in cannon. For one thing, in the deleted scenes of TLK2 (They're available on Youtube) she says she would have been his queen and calls him her beloved. For another thing, her obsession with getting revenge is way too big for her to be just a follower, at least in my opinion.**

 **I think Disney scrapped anything that could evidence their romance because villains do not have families in Disney movies. Villains are not supposed to leave anyone sad when they die and they're not supposed to love anyone; hence why they never have children or wives – and when they do, the whole family is evil (For example, Cinderella; not counting the sequels).**

 **Well, that's just my silly opinion and you're free to disagree and hate any pairing. Still, I love Scar and Zira as a pairing and even if they aren't cannon in the movies, they are here. I think it's a neat relationship to imagine. So I'm sorry if you hate the pairing, but yeah, this was planned since the very beginning.**

 **And yes, I know about the "Scar wanted Nala as his queen" scene. Still ship Scar and Zira. I plan to expand that in later chapters.**

 **Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!**


	12. Starting a journey

**Sorry. College and stuff have been keeping me away from writing. I'm surprised at how many people wanted me to continue this story, I didn't expect this amount of good feedback on this. Not much happens here, but enjoy this new chapter.**

* * *

Kopa blinked his eyes open, standing up in a jump when he noticed he had overslept. He sighed, rubbed his face with his paw and shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the heaviness surrounding his sleepy eyes. He looked around the cave, hoping that he hadn't awoken anyone up. Luckily, Taka was still sleeping on the back of the cave while Kion slept peacefully by Kopa's side.

Kopa took a deep breath and poked Kion with his paw. The cub shifted and yawned in his sleep, but didn't seem to wake up immediately.

"Kion. Hey, Kion, wake up." He whispered as he poked the cub again.

That time Kion actually opened his eyes, but still seemed to be too sleepy to acknowledge what was going on around him. He blinked his eyes several times to get used to the sudden light and looked up, slightly startled to see Kopa looking down at him before he remembered where he was.

"Oh, hum, morning, Kipawa." Kion said and rubbed his eyes.

"Morning, morning." Kopa hastened to say and rolled his eyes. "Now stand up, we overslept. We have to find something to eat and leave as fast as possible if you want to be home by tonight."

Kion looked outside the cave and then raised an eyebrow. "Overslept? The sun has barely risen up."

"I know, but if we don't leave right now we won't get there in time!" Kopa muttered through his clenched teeth and immediately regretted his outburst, afraid that Taka would wake up if they made too much noise.

Kion gulped, startled at Kopa's sudden aggressive voice and quickly nodded.

"Now come on, we have to go." Kopa said before leaning down with his mouth open toward Kion. Kion shrank in fear and let out a gasp in a subconscious reaction as Kopa closed his mouth around his body and lifted him off the ground, crouching down and getting ready to jump out of the cave.

"Kipawa?" Taka called him from behind.

The sudden call startled Kopa and caused him to lose his balance and concentration, falling over on his stomach and letting go of Kion in the process. Kion shrieked as the fall gave him an unexpected boost and he rolled out of the cave.

"Next time you wake up give us some kind of warning, please." Kion muttered as he stood up and shook his body, taking his paw to his head as he walked into the cave again.

Taka smirked at the cub and looked back at Kopa, who was currently rising up from the ground and shaking his body to get rid of the dust. His smirk changed into a frown as the teen lion looked at him with a forced smile.

"Sorry if we woke you up, Asante." Kopa muttered with a smile, hoping to change the subject but knowing that Taka would never fall for that.

"I gather that you two were just going for a quick walk, huh?" Taka asked with irony.

Kopa sighed and shook his head.

"Asante, _please_. You cannot expect me to be okay with you going with us to the Pride Lands! I'm fast, I can take him there and come back in one day. It's too far away, and there's your leg, and also-"

"I'm very aware that I may not be in the best shape I've ever been," Taka walked past Kopa and approached Kion, ruffling his short mane to clean it off the dust it gathered when Kion rolled out, "But I wouldn't be okay with you going by yourself, just like you wouldn't be ok with me going by myself. And I have my… Some other reasons to want to go there. Even if it's just for a day."

Kion smiled and giggled when Taka cleaned him and looked up at the older lion.

"Why would you even want to go there?" Kopa questioned, his ears folding back in annoyance.

Taka's eyes seemed to wide slightly before he sighed and looked back at the Kopa. "Sometimes the path we need to take is the one we wish we could avoid. And the one we avoid is the one we should have taken… long ago." He heaved. "Now come on, we still have a long way to go."

"Oh, right behind yah!" Kion quipped and followed Taka out the cave happily, while an incredulous Kopa was left behind.

"But what does that even mean?!" He exclaimed before he jogged to get by Taka's side, still pleading for the older lion to stay as the three of them began to walk side by side.

* * *

Kion knew they had only been walking for a few hours, but the burning in his legs made him feel like he had been walking for days straight. The scalding heat of the savannah didn't make that any easier; his tongue felt dry inside his mouth so he kept it out of his mouth as he panted and his little mane felt extremely warm on the top of his head. He walked slowly behind Taka, both of them being led by Kopa.

Kion strained and grunted as his legs gave in and he fell down, panting and unable to sustain his body any longer. Both Kopa and Taka immediately looked behind; Taka with a worried look on his face and Kopa in attack position, as if expecting that noise to come from a threat.

"Kion," Taka said, awkwardly calm, as he approached the cub and poked him with his paw, "Hey, are you alright?"

Kopa left his attack position, rolled his eyes and mimicked Taka speaking in a mocking way, but made sure it was too low for the older lion to hear as he stood behind them; not bothering to go check on Kion.

Gulping and trying to stand up but failing again, Kion nodded, "I, I think so. I'm just awfully tired." he closed his eyes and kept panting.

"Well, duh, we've been walking for hours now. It'd be weird if you weren't tired." Kopa rolled his eyes again. "But come on, we still have a few hours before the sun sets, we can't stop to rest now! If we do, we will have to stay here for the night and walk much more than planned tomorrow! So just take a deep breath, stand up and move on!"

Taka frowned at Kopa's reaction. It was not his nature to be so careless like he had been toward Kion. Taka expected him to jump toward Kion and offer all the help the lion cub may need when he fell down, but instead what he got was complete indifference and annoyance.

Kopa turned his back on Taka and Kion and continued walking, upright and confident like he was the leader of a pride leading them to a war. Taka was still questioning his attitudes, but brushed it off for the moment as he turned to Kion again and helped him stand up by pushing him up with his muzzle.

"Thank you." The cub managed to say between his breaths.

"Think you can walk some more?" Taka asked, looking ahead as Kopa kept walking forward and got farther and farther from them. "I don't think we'll stop until the sun sets, meaning there's still a couple hours left."

Kion looked ahead, and his tiredness seemed to take over as the distance suddenly seemed to increase right in front of his eyes. He gulped, already feeling his legs shaking when he thought of how much he'd have to walk.

Before he could answer, Kion was snapped out of his thoughts when Taka lifted him off the ground and put Kion on his back. He began walking before Kion could hold onto him and thus the cub almost fell down, but luckily, he managed to balance himself between Taka's shoulder blades.

Kion blinked in confusion. "Uh…"

"Make sure you don't fall," Taka said in the most natural voice Kion had ever heard, "You could get hurt."

Kion nodded and made himself comfortable, snuggling his head into Taka's mane and taking a deep breath. His legs finally relaxed, and he could feel the burning sensation on them beginning to wash off. In a matter of seconds, he had dozed off.

Kopa was still walking a few feet ahead when he stopped and looked back to assure himself that Taka and Kion were following him. He saw the brown lion walking toward him and he looked to the sides trying to find Kion, only to drop his jaw when he realized Taka was carrying a sleeping Kion on his back.

"Kipawa?" Taka called when he got to Kopa's side as Kopa expressed no reaction.

"You're… carrying him on your back." Kopa stated with his eyes frozen and locked on Kion, not saying anything else. Taka stared at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah? He was tired, I'm not. He can't walk anymore. If I don't carry him, we'll have to stop and sleep here; which you've made quite clear that you don't want to do." He looked ahead and sighed, "Now let's go, the Pride Lands are still far away."

Kopa sighed. "Right behind yah."

Taka and Kopa walked side by side, yet did not share another word until the sky changed from a bright blue to a darkening shade of orange. Taka kept glancing at the younger lion out of the corner of his eye, analyzing his unusually serious frowny face as he failed to understand the cause of Kopa's behavior.

"Here," Kopa said as he stopped walking and stood in front of Taka, "We'll sleep here tonight. I don't want to walk anymore and risk running into any snakes or anything like that. Now, you and Kion wait for me under that tree. I'll go hunt us a dinner."

Without waiting for a reply, Kopa turned around and began walking away. Taka's jaw dropped in surprise at the teen's authoritarian voice; but he merely shrugged and walked to the spot Kopa had told them to wait on. It was right under a huge tree, a grassless spot surrounded by heavy vegetation. While it wasn't as secure as a cave, it was a decent makeshift shelter.

"Kion, hey Kion," Taka turned his head and poked the cub on his back with his muzzle until he raised his head and yawned, "Wake up."

Kion blinked his eyes several times and shook his head before he was able to acknowledge the surroundings; hunger, tiredness and thirst messing up with his brain. He licked his dry lips and tried to get rid of the sour taste inside his mouth.

"Are we there yet?"

"In the Pride Lands? No, I'm sorry." Taka said before he crouched down and slightly leaned sideways, causing Kion to slowly slid down his side and softly lay on the floor, "We're going to sleep here and walk more tomorrow. Make yourself comfortable."

Kion nodded and looked ahead. The sun was now set, but a few lonely rays still made their way through the horizon, barely lighting up the darkness that took over the skies. Soon enough the light would be gone.

Taka lay down beside Kion, standing upwind to use his body as a barrier to protect the cub from the cold wind that blew through the savannah at late hours. Kion smiled and yawned again.

"Hey, where's Kipawa?" He asked, finally noticing that he was alone with the brown lion.

"He went hunting. Soon he'll be back with food. Try resting some more; you seemed exhausted this afternoon. Are you hungry?"

"I think I could eat a whole zebra," Kion said as his belly rumbled and he contracted his legs to cover it, trying to ease the pain in his stomach, "Do you think Kipawa will bring me something to eat?"

Taka's eyebrows knitted together as he looked down at Kion.

"Of course, why wouldn't he?"

"I, I don't know," Kion murmured, looking down in embarrassment, "I just feel like he's not exactly very fond of me."

"What makes you say that?" Taka inquired although he knew exactly what Kion was referring to.

"Well, he… He was, hum, rather rude toward me. And… He didn't seem concerned at all when I fell down earlier today like you did. Oh, thanks for carrying me, by the way. I don't know how I'd have done it without y-"

"Don't mention it," Taka cut him short. He was never one for emotional moments. "And hum, like I told you, Kipawa can be a little stubborn at times. I guess he's just not thrilled about travelling so far away… He's always afraid something's going to be wrong or someone will get hurt."

"He's afraid you'll get hurt." Kion nodded, closing his eyes and resting his head on his paws. "He really cares a lot about you."

With a smug smile on his face, Taka shrugged and sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Now come on, try to get some rest. Tomorrow is a long day and we have a long way to go."

"Okay." He yawned, already dozing off. "Thank you again."

Taka didn't answer. He merely made sure Kion was warm enough and took a deep breath, feeling the cold wind of the savannah night begging to blow around and ruffling his mane. His eyes were getting heavy, but although he was exhausted, he couldn't relax until Kopa came back. He then lowered his body to hide between the tall grass around him and waited; as the darkness took over the sky once the sunlight was gone.

* * *

Kopa liked to hunt. He always did.

The power he felt when he got to capture his prey; after carefully watching it and planning a strategy to outsmart any plan his victim might come up with to escape, was what he liked the most about it.

But on top of that, he liked to feel like he was a provider. His hunting was what had kept himself and Taka alive. If it weren't for Taka taking him in, he would be dead. And if he didn't hunt for Taka, Taka would probably be dead by that point. They helped one another, without feeling like they had to. He wanted Taka to be fine because he cared for him, and so did Taka about the younger lion. He was a hunter, he was a trier; someone who would not waste a second before he jumped on the throat of anyone who dared to threaten him or anyone he cared about – no matter who they were or what they were doing.

Simba always told him he shouldn't be like that.

Princes shouldn't be like that.

With roaming thoughts on his mind, Kopa approached Taka and Kion in silent steps before carefully laying the two pigeons he carried in his mouth on the ground.

"It took you a while."

Kopa's ears perked up at the voice and he looked at Taka, smiling as he realized he was awoken and looking at him with a smile.

"Not that easy to hunt at night. I'll try to get something else in the morning before we leave." He sighed, yawned and lay in front of Taka; receiving a muzzle from the older lion which he rejoiced with a smile.

"Should we wake up Kion so that he can eat?" Taka wondered, looking at the sleeping cub and then at the dead birds by his side.

Kion shook his head.

"It's best that he gets a full night of sleep. He'd probably be too tired to eat anyway; he seems to be sleeping heavily right now." Kopa said as he pushed one of the birds in Taka's direction. "But you should. Long day tomorrow."

"Thank you." Taka said.

By the dry blood darkening Kopa's lips, Taka could tell that he had eaten his share already. The yellow lion watched in silence with a content look on his face as Taka eat; it felt like he felt satisfied to see that Taka was satisfied – which wasn't a lie.

Taka looked up from the food and into Kopa's eyes. Even in the dim light of the stars above, they still shone like two sapphires.

"When did you get that big?" Taka muttered, more to himself than to Kopa. Kopa giggled and shook his head.

"Please don't start that 'just yesterday you were a cub' talk. Time passed, I grew. That's the circle of life at its finest." He smiled smugly.

Taka shook his head and smiled back. "I didn't mean it like that. You get stronger each passing day. Soon enough you'll be taller than me."

The older lion than proceeded to look at Kopa to take in his features. His forelock was now beginning to resemble that of an adult lion; full and bright, falling over his eyes and taking up all the space there was on the top of his head. While most of his neck remained bare, the thick line of red fur that went down his neck was beginning to cover some of it; the yellow fur slowly being replaced by the flaming locks of the ever-growing red mane.

Taka sighed and looked away, sadness dancing in his eyes.

Kopa blinked and rubbed his head against Taka's shoulder. Taka looked back at Kopa, heaviness in his eyes.

"Taka?"

"You're growing." Taka stated. "And you have all the features of a leader."

Kopa's heart suddenly began beating faster once he realized where that conversation was going.

"Taka…"

"Kipawa," Taka sighed, "You're strong. You're careful. You're a male lion who can hunt like no other lion I've ever come across. I won't be here much longer…"

"Please…" Kopa closed his eyes and turned his head away from Taka, feeling the wind ruffling his mane as it fell over his eyes.

"You have to think about what you'll do once I'm gone." Taka finished, getting to the point that stung Kopa's heart. He looked back at Taka, ears folded back and eyes filled with tears.

"Would you stop saying that? You make it seem like you're dying tomorrow! You're not-" Kion stuttered, words locking up in his throat, "I don't care if I'm a good leader, I don't want to be a leader. I want- I want to help, and…" He swallowed hard, "You're still here."

"Still being the key word. Once I'm not, you should think of going-" Taka uttered, looking down.

Kopa shook his head.

"I'm not worrying about that now. And I will never let anything happen to you. Ever." He professed, straightening himself up. "And I'm not leaving you."

Taka was surprised when Kopa nuzzled him again; but rather than withdrawing after a few seconds he lay his head over Taka's paws and took a deep breath. Taka stood still, unsure of what to do as he expected Kopa to stand up; before realizing the younger lion had fallen asleep like that.

He felt warmth in his chest when he looked at Kopa, but he shook his head and tried to dismiss the feeling. However, it grew even more when Kion curled up against him in his sleep.

Sighing heavily, Taka laid his head over Kopa's neck and tried to get some rest. He felt weird, the feeling of joy and warmth clawing at his chest no matter how hard he tried to push it away. He was glad it didn't take long for him to fall asleep after that due to being so tired.

Taka hated feelings. Scar had had them, and now Scar was dead. He would not let his feelings get in the way of his life – not again.

* * *

 **Have you guys seen the new TLG episode? With the outlanders? Did you guys see how Scar and Zira were side by side on the Pride Rock and she said they were "very, very close"? I was freaking! That's it, I consider them cannon from now on. I ship them too much. Just a heads up, get ready for mushy moments and feelings around them. I warned you, hehe.**

 **Hope you enjoyed. Leave a review ^^ See you guys next chapter!**


	13. In the Pride Lands

**My classes for the week were cancelled so I thought I might as well update this again. I know I said it'd be along chapter but I decided that writing this as a separate chapter would be better so that the next one won't be too long. Transition chapter ahead. Hint hint, the next one is the one where the climax happens.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Fuli, Bunga, Beshte, Ono, Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu, Kiara and Rafiki sat in a circle around Nala and Simba in the Pride Rock; all of them looked up at the king with watery eyes as they waited for what Simba had to say.

"Thank you all for coming here today," He began to say, straightening himself up and looking ahead at nobody in particular, "I… I believe you already know what it is I have to say. It concerns Kion."

"Have you found him?" Fuli asked, her ears twitching up.

Simba closed his eyes and shook his head. "No. All of us who are gathered here made our best to find him; searching low and high, but unfortunately, there were no signs of him anywhere."

Fuli looked down and laid her head on her paws.

"Of course, it has only been two days… He could still be somewhere out there." Simba's voice came out low and hopeless, as in he was trying to convince himself and not the others of that, "All we know is that he was dragged by the river and then disappeared. Maybe it took him to a far place and he's trying to come back… But we all know that that is unlikely."

The cave was so quiet that one would hear a feather hitting the ground. Everyone stood still in silence and watched it as Simba folded his ears back and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. A lonely tear ran down the golden fur on his face, disappearing amongst his mane before he turned his attention back to the animals surrounding him.

"Therefore, if there aren't any signs of him soon, I believe it is safe to say that Kion… That he…" Simba's voice cracked, more tears darkening his cheeks and running down his whiskers. He took a deep breath before continuing, but that didn't keep his voice from cracking again. "It is safe to say that Kion drowned."

"No!" Bunga jumped up and cried out, "We can't believe that, Kion can't be gone! We have to keep looking!"

Everyone watched it with heavy hearts as the honey badger exploded, tears running down his face. Timon and Pumbaa exchanged worried glances before they approached their adoptive nephew and laid their paws on his shoulders.

"Bunga, we've looked every-"

"Get away from me, uncle Timon!" Bunga yelled in anger, pushing the meerkat away from him, "I can't believe you're all just willing to accept that! What if he needs us? What if he's lost and can't find his way back home! We can't just give up like that, we can't…"

Bunga's voice got lower and lower as realization slowly came to him when he thought over everything that had happened. He stood still and breathed heavily before he came back to his senses and the dire reality sank in, bringing tears to his eyes. His lip quivered before he sat down on the ground and hugged his knees, sobbing into them.

"I'm sorry, Bunga." Timon said, approaching him again and giving him a hug that wasn't refused by his nephew that time, "We miss him too."

"Us too." Fuli said and gestured to the rest of the guard, who nodded in agreement when Bunga looked up to look at them.

Silence took over again, with the guard, Timon and Pumbaa trying to comfort Bunga – but realizing it was hard to do so when they needed comfort themselves. So, they all just sat together in a messy hug, as they allowed themselves to grieve for a moment.

Simba and Nala stood side by side, a waterfall coming down Simba's eyes. Nala began sniffling too, burying her face in Simba's mana while she tried to caress Kiara who was crying against her leg. Zazu sighed and decided to leave the royal family alone, muttering his sorrows for Simba's loss before he flied out the cave.

Nobody seemed to notice Rafiki leaving the cave, a serious expression on his face.

* * *

The day went on filled with sorrow and mourning. None of the lions nor Fuli had gone hunting, as they felt too sick to eat and lacked any appetite. Simba didn't leave the Pride Rock like he usually did; throughout the day the only place where he could be found was in the very end of his cave, either sleeping or trying to do so. In the meantime, Zazu was the one responsible for spreading out the news and solving any problem in Simba's absence.

The heat outside seemed to be even worse than the day before. When walking on the Pride Rock, the animals could feel their paws burning against the dry, hot ground. Upon realizing this, the guard went to the lair seeking some fresh shadow and water. However, unlike other days they weren't playing around with each other or cracking up jokes; they weren't even talking. They just sat alone around the lair, enjoying the moist atmosphere it had but being far from happy. Rafiki seemed to be working on his paintings on a wall nearby, but none of the cubs was interested in the stories he had to tell this time.

"What will we do now?" The silence was broken when Fuli muttered the question. Everyone looked at her, but she kept looking at the ground and playing with a rock in front of her as if she didn't have a single care in the world.

Beshte forced a smile and tried to sound confident. "Well, my father always says 'Ingawa gone, bado hapa'. Kion may be gone, but if we keep him in our hearts he will-"

"I know that, Beshte." Fuli cut him off. "What I mean is, what will we as the guard do? We can't remain the lion guard if our lion leader is gone. I guess… I guess that means the guard is over." She sat up with her ears folded flat against her head.

Bunga frowned and jumped to the middle of the lair, puffing his chest and clenching his fists.

"No! The guard is not over! That's not what Kion would want us to do!" He proclaimed. "We must continue to help anyone who needs us."

"That would be cool, Little B," Beshte uttered, "But how are we supposed to do that? Kion was our leader, and he had the gift of the roar. We can't possibly be the same if he's gone."

Bunga nodded in agreement, yet continued to speak. "It won't be the same. But we can't just quit. Kion would never, ever quit! We may not have the roar anymore, but we still have our speed, our sight, our strength and our braveness." He spoke up as he pointed to each of his friends that represented what he said. "We vowed to protect the Pride Lands until the end, and that's what we must do!"

He looked around, seeing that his friends didn't seem convinced at his words.

"That's what Kion would want us to do." He finished, which seemed to change everyone's minds as they sighed and nodded.

"Bunga is right," Ono said, "Kion would be disappointed if we ever broke up the guard. We'll always be the guard, and so will he. It is our duty to keep doing what we were destined for, remember? Till the Pride Lands ends,"

"Lion guard defends." Everyone said it with Ono when the bird finished his sentence, but never had their motto sounded so hopeless and broken as it did when they said it there.

* * *

"Greetings," Simba said sadly as he walked into the guard's lair. Everyone sat up and bowed their heads in respect upon the king's presence, "The sun is going down, and I believe a storm might be approaching. I think it'd be wise for you to go home while the weather is still like this. We don't want to make your parents worried."

The cubs exchanged glances before standing up at the same time.

"Yes, your majesty." Fuli nodded.

They bowed their heads again, waiting for Simba to nod for them to leave. Simba stood still and watched it as his son's friends went away; one by one disappearing from his sight as they distanced themselves from the lair. He didn't move until a sound brought him back to reality, and only them he noticed Rafiki was there too, still working on his paintings.

He approached the monkey and sat by his side, smiling at the lively colored drawings on the walls and watching the smudges taking form as Rafiki outlined them and drew the details. However, his admiration quickly became confusion when he realized what those drawings were: the painting depicted Scar with Kion and Kopa standing by his side.

As if Rafiki could read Simba's mind, he spoke up. "The three lost princes."

"Excuse me?" Simba shook his head and raised an eyebrow.

"The three lost princes of the Pride Lands," Rafiki answered, "Kion, Scar, and Kopa."

"But Scar wasn't a-" Simba trailed off when he realized it, "Hum, Scar actually was a prince. I, I never thought of him as one."

"Not every prince becomes a king, but once you're a prince, you'll always be one. Until the day you die. You may become a king, but you'll carry the prince title until the day you're gone. And so did Scar."

Simba frowned, not content to see his beloved sons depicted alongside the one lion he had ever come to loathe.

"He did not deserve the royalty he bore."

"It's not something one asks for, Simba. It's a burden that those who are born with it must bear. Unfortunately, not all bearers have what it takes to live up to the title they have. And when that happens, you have the Shadow Lands." Rafiki heaved, not once looking away from his drawings.

Simba looked confused again. "Shadow Lands?"

The monkey picked up his staff from the ground and motioned for Simba to follow him. They walked up to a wall where a dark blue drawing was on. Touching it with his staff, Rafiki made the drawing come to live, with lines coming up out of nowhere and moving around to tell a story like they were meant to.

The king sat down and watched the story that evolved in front of him. He saw the Pride Rock, surrounded by heavy dark blue clouds and dry trees with skulls and bones all around. The last thing to appear on the drawing was Scar, standing on the Pride Rock like the king he was at the time.

"Oh," Simba understood. "The Shadow Lands… That's an appropriate name, I guess. Thankfully those times are over. What a shame Kopa didn't get to see what the Pride Lands actually look like…"

Rafiki looked at Simba and noticed the king's eyes were getting watery again.

"I'm sure he's going to be able to see it…"

"You mean from above?" Simba asked the monkey.

Rafiki sighed. "Yes. Sure. From above."

* * *

 **Thank you guys so much for all the reviews! They definitely motivate me to write more. I'm glad you guys are enjoying this!**

 **See yah next chapter!**


	14. Never again

**So happy I'm done with this! I missed writing for this story. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Kopa felt like he couldn't breathe.

They had finally reached the Pride Lands, with the Pride Rock insight, standing tall and proud on the horizon ahead. Kopa stood still with his head up high as the feelings that he tried so hard to suppress came back to surface, tangling themselves together in a mess whenever he tried to make any sense out of them.

The feeling he had upon being back to the place where he was born after so long was more like that of a dèjá-vu than that of a memory, as if he had never in fact been there before and all the few memories he had were but a dream or weird vision.

Perhaps denying his past for so long made it feel unreal.

"We made it!"

The excited voice brought Kopa back to reality, snapping him out of his thoughts. Just as he looked down Kion ran past him, so close to his paws that Kopa almost lost his balance and fell sideways from the cub's boosted jump; but he was able to recover before that happened.

Kopa sighed heavily and sat down, watching as the happy cub ran all over in front of him. Soon after, Taka emerged from behind him, sitting down besides the younger lion and watching Kion running with an amused smile.

"We did it," He commented briefly.

Kopa nodded, feeling that there wasn't anything he could really add to that statement. Then, he looked up at the sky. Dark, heavy clouds had taken over but not the extent of covering up sunlight completely. However, as the night approached, it wouldn't be long until they were left in complete darkness. Looking over his shoulder, Kopa noticed that his mane ruffled in the wind, and the dryness in the air made it unlikely that rain would come anytime soon despite what the dark clouds would have one think.

"I think we should go," He ordered, standing up, "It's going to be dark soon. We need to seek shelter before that happens."

Taka sat idly, as though he hadn't even heard Kopa. His eyes were wide open and his mouth hung slightly open as well, but he didn't seem to be scared as he locked his gaze on the horizon; seemingly lost in his own world.

"Asante?" Kopa called, but it still wasn't been enough to get the lion's attention as he remained as still as before. Kopa was about to call him again when another joyful yelp caught their attention.

"Thank you so much! I, I can't believe you guys really did bring me here!" Kion thanked them with his eyes slightly wet from crying for being back home. He closed his eyes and rubbed his head on Taka's paw and then on Kopa's, purring much like a kitten would.

Taka chuckled under his breath and Kopa bit his lower lip in uneasiness, but not even him could help smiling down at the happy cub bellow him. He quickly petted Kion in return before lightly pushing him away, which didn't seem to bother the cub at all.

"Now come on you two, we still have quite a journey before we get to the Pride Rock!"

Kion lunged forward as Taka and Kopa remained still, confusion coming across their faces as they watched the cub run away from them, only to stop and look over his shoulder with a confused look, matching that of the older ones, when he noticed they weren't following him.

"Come on, you two." Kion urged, turning around, "It's going to be nighttime really soon. We should get there before it happens."

Kopa and Taka exchanged glances as Kopa stood up and positioned himself between Taka and Kion.

"Kion, we're not going with you." He said in a menacing voice, uncannily similar to the one Simba used to lecture Kion whenever he did something wrong and possibly dangerous, which made the cub tilt his head in confusion.

Kopa expected Taka to counter him once more, as he had done when Kopa asked him to stay in their cave when they had to bring Kion back home, but this time around, he wouldn't give in to his master's wishes no matter how much he felt bad going against him. He couldn't go to the Pride Rock and he couldn't explain why. However, the brown lion stood still, apparently agreeing to what was being said. Kopa questioned why that was, but decided to be just glad.

"What?" Kion jumped toward them and looked up at Kopa, "But I wanted you to meet my dad and-"

"No!" Kopa and Taka exclaimed at the same time, exchanging confused glances at each other after doing so, and both clearly not expecting the other to have that reaction. Even more confused was Kion, who raised an eyebrow at them and folded his ears back.

"Why not?" He asked after neither lion said anything else.

"Because…" Kopa asked, looking up and trying to come up with an excuse, when Taka slightly pushed him aside so that he was sitting in front of Kion.

"I've had bad encounters with kings in the past. Not something I wish to do again." He explained vacantly.

Kopa's eyes widened at that revelation, slightly bitter at the fact that Taka had revealed that to Kion and never to him after raising him, but more startled at what he'd just been told.

"You have?"

Taka nodded and threw his head back so that the fur that covered his left ear moved away, revealing the torn-in-half ear he had.

"Scars such as these don't happen out of nowhere, you know."

"You mean a king did that to you?" Kopa asked, urging for details.

"And that is why," Taka addressed Kion, ignoring Kopa's question as he stood up and let his mane fall back to its original position, "We won't be going with you. I'd hate to cause any trouble. And I believe you can get home just fine from here."

Kion gulped, the battle scar Taka showed him making his stomach twist and turn.

"My, uh, I'm sorry that happened to you, but my dad won't give you any trouble! I'm sure he'll be thankful that you two saved me and-"

"Kion," Kopa interrupted, furrowing his eyebrows. "You heard Asante, we're not going. We have to go back home anyway. And I believe you're grown enough to go to the Pride Rock by yourself from here." He said, once again menacing, afraid that Kion could eventually persuade Taka and change his mind.

Kion shrank under the older lion's gaze and looked up at Taka. A weak sound left his mouth, merely forming a "but" before he closed his eyes and sighed, head down in conformation.

"Alright. I'll, I'll take it from here." Kion forced a smile. "Thank you two so much. I'll never forget you. And I don't know what I would have done without your help."

"Don't mention it," Kopa muttered, relieved that he got himself out of that situation, but suddenly his heart heaved at the thought of having to, once again, leave his home with no goodbye whatsoever. Maybe he could just-

 _No. We have to go._

"You're welcome." Taka smiled down at him.

Kion nodded and smiled up at the two lions once more, taking in their appearance as he did so. It was so weird to think he may never see them and they had been together for a few days only, but without them, his life would have changed forever. He'd never forget that… unlike pride that the two of them made.

Then in a quick jump, Kion turned around and began running toward the Pride Rock.

Kopa and Taka smiled as they watched him for a few more seconds until lightning stroke, quickly illuminating the sky for a few seconds and warning them of a possible upcoming storm. Kopa walked around Taka and began walking in the same trail they had followed to get there, Taka quickly joining him.

"Was I that mushy when I was a cub?" Kopa asked.

"Hum, nah," Taka responded, looking up and pondering, "You were more like the annoying type."

"Shut up," Kopa scoffed and chuckled, lightly nudging Taka's side as they kept walking.

* * *

Kion trotted happily and as quick as he could toward the Pride Rock, his heart beating faster with each step as the end of his journey grew near. All he could think of was seeing his family and friends again, a thought that made his heart leap in joy.

However, that didn't last long.

His joyful run came to a stop when he felt the ground shaking beneath his soft paws, knocking over small rocks and causing leaves and fruits to fall down from the trees around. Kion looked from side to side and tried to remain calm. Was that a stampede? It wouldn't be unlikely as the zebras started panicking and running over every small thing, but there weren't that many of them to make the ground shake that hard.

His ears perked up right after when the screams of several desperate animals came from behind him. He tried to make out what they were saying, but the few words that were said got lost in the midst of too many voices and unintelligible yells.

Kion was confused and slightly worried, but when his nose caught a burning smell and eyes began burning and watering, it wasn't hard to put two and two together.

Fire.

He looked over his shoulder just in time to see animals of all kinds running toward him, passing by him in a frantic rhythm. He ducked and covered his head after a zebra almost stepped on him, and by the time he opened his eyes again he saw the sky getting a sickening shade of red and brown, the ever-growing flames now appeared in the horizon behind; and although they seemed far, they got bigger and closer by the minute.

Kion stood still, fear paralyzing him and consuming precious time he could have used to run away as the fire grew near while enveloping in flames everything that it touched. It wasn't until he was knocked over by a running gazelle that he broke free from his fear, the fire now much closer to him than before.

The cub began running faster than ever before, knowing his life depended on it. His eyes scorched with the smoke, the breaths he took began feeling suffocating at the lack of clear air around him as his entire body became hot and sweaty, smoke dancing around him like an evil breeze.

His surroundings made it much harder for him to run and he had to stop, exhausted; gasping, desperate for air that he couldn't get as the fire spread further and further around him, forming a labyrinth of red flames.

Kion stopped in his tracks when he saw himself run into a dead end. He foolishly ran to a small hill, hoping to be able to jump down from there and keep running, only to find that bellow stood a pool of fire that he wouldn't be able to jump over. In addition, when he tried to return to take another way, there was a fire gate blocking him – and it was getting increasingly closer to him.

He knew it wouldn't be long until he passed out and eventually suffocated. Kion took a breath that caught in his throat, coming back through his nose and bringing an ache to his dry mouth as he coughed and lost however little air he had managed to keep in him.

There was no way out.

With tears on his eyes and his body wearing out in the middle of that chaos, Kion used his last resource and cried out the loudest he could, twice, begging for help; hoping that his father – someone, anyone, would hear him out.

However, he was just as low on hope as he was on strength as he passed out, falling limp on the hard ground.

* * *

"Do you smell that too?" Taka questioned as he sniffled the air.

Kopa stopped walking and took a deep breath, turning his head when he caught the odd scent, his eyes falling upon a distant fire that took over the place they were not long before. He gasped at the sight, which made Taka turn over to check what startled Kopa, and had a similar reaction.

"Seems like we got out of there just in time." Kopa said, relieved.

"It must have been the lightning from earlier," Taka observed, squinting as he tried to get a better view at the red and black chaos unrolling behind their backs. "We should go on before it strikes again and-"

He was interrupted when a cry filled the air, coming from the distance, but clear enough for them to understand it.

Taka's eyes widened. "Was that…"

"Kion!" Kopa screamed in horror when it got to him. His brain was left far behind as his heart took over and he ran toward the fire, faster than light. All he could think about in that moment was that his brother was in the middle of that fire. He didn't even hear it when Taka called out his name, begging for him to stay as he chased the younger lion.

Kopa's path only got more difficult as he approached the fire, with so many animals running in the opposite direction that he was caught in the middle of a small stampede. The crowded area only made the air even worse and made it harder for him to breathe. When most animals were past him, he was able to stop and try to take a breath; but it was only then he saw he was surrounded in a heavy red mist – a harbinger of the fire ahead.

A cough came from behind him, and Kopa gasped as he turned around. All he saw at first was a black blur, and as he squinted, he was able to see the brown lion whose color merged so well with that of the mist, making it a camouflage.

"Asante!" He ran to the older lion, angry and desperation growing in him. If he left Taka there to go look for Kion he might never see him again, and if he stayed there to help Taka then Kion would most likely die. He was short on time and out of options. "What are you doing here? You should have stayed there and-"

He wheezed when Taka pushed him back with more strength than he ever had used on him.

"Are you crazy?" Taka yelled as he gave a step further, "You don't just run into a fire like that!" He had to stop to cough, the red mist heavy and the warmth from the fire blurring his sight, "You could die!"

Kopa shook his head, confused for he was definitely trying to hold too many thoughts in his mind at once and figured that none of them made at any sense.

"Taka, go back. I'll go find Kion-"

"You stay here." Taka demanded, walking past Kopa and coughing again. "I'll go looking for him. Don't you dare go near that fire, _Kopa_!" He said before running.

Kopa blinked in surprise at the use of his real name, but that was quickly overshadowed by his desperation and he jogged to reach Taka. The older lion stopped running immediately when he saw Kopa right behind him.

He grunted, already feeling exhausted.

"I told you to-" Taka began yelling, his voice almost muffled completely due to the sound of the fire around them.

"I'm not letting you go there, are you crazy?" Kopa yelled back, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. It was too much, he felt like he was going insane. "You would never make it out alive! I'll go fetch Kion, you wait here!"

Taka shook his head in a pleading manner.

"Kipawa, go back, I can't lose you too!"

"What?"

Before the fight could continue and any answers could be given, another cry brought their attention back to the fire. They exchanged one click glance before they jumped over the first wall of fire and entered that hell, knowing that if they fought any longer, Kion would be a goner.

"Stay near me!" Taka demanded, saliva running down his mouth as he panted in a useless attempt to cool his body down.

Kion was the same as he nodded and they began running. There was no time to plan anything, and running around aimless wasn't a good idea, but it was the best they had.

Both lions ran side-by-side, yelling Kion's name, praying for a reply, but came none. All around them, all they could see was fire, mist, and destruction. It wouldn't be long until they ran out of strength and either passed out and dropped dead, and they knew that.

But Kopa couldn't leave his brother. And Taka would never save himself if that meant leaving Kopa behind.

Either they all survived, or they all died. Kopa began breathing heavily; unwanted memories of a situation came back to his mind, a familiar sensation of despair and helplessness slowly involved his heart and gripped it tightly, like a snake killing a victim.

The voices inside his head began calling him.

 _Help me!  
I'm sorry!  
Kopa!  
Kopa…_

"KOPA!" A real voice called out and only then Kopa snapped out of his thoughts. However, he didn't have time to think through anything before Taka jumped on him, pushing him away just before a burning tree gave in and fell down where he was previously standing.

He shook his head and stood up, Taka by his side. "Are you insane? What were you doing?"

Kopa's breath shortened. His mind was a racing mess of thoughts, reality and imagination blending like present and past had done a few seconds before.

"I- I…" He stuttered; shaking his head again, telling himself to focus- _FOCUS, KION NEEDS ME NOW! DON'T FAIL SOMEONE AGAIN!_

"There! I think I see him!" Taka suddenly yelled, pointing to a small hallway that was made between two walls of fire. At the end of the 'hallway' was a yellow smudge that seemed to be just a bunch of leaves at first sight. The smudge Kopa saw on the day he found Kion by the river band.

Kopa nodded, running toward Kion and Taka running after him. Kopa's smile grew wild when he saw his brother and he leaned down to take him into his mouth, when his memory betrayed him once more.

That hill.

He had been there before.

It was where it happened.

 _Kopa!  
I'm sorry!  
Help me!  
I can't…_

"Kipawa? Kopa!" Taka yelled, but just before he could reach the younger lion, who inexplicably stood completely still instead of taking action, the hallway was closed by more fire, a new wall of flames separating Taka and Kopa.

"Kipawa!" Taka cried out when he saw through the flames in front of him that Kopa stood still, frozen like a statue, with Kion lying motionless at his feet. He didn't know why Kopa was acting like that, he just knew he needed to find a way to get to them.

His legs burned from the exhaustion and the fire ahead, and he could feel the smoke in his lungs and mouth that was now completely dry. Taka knew it was a stupid attempt, but it was the last chance he had. Walking back as much as he could, he ran toward the fire and jumped through it, the flames tickling his stomach.

Taka fell down harshly on the ground, groaning in pain. He stood up, legs almost giving in; but newfound strength came to him when he saw Kopa and Kion ahead. The fire was catching up to them, the third wall behind him closing in, and it wouldn't be long until all the hill was covered in flames – certainly taking the three lions with it.

"Kipawa!" He yelled one last time as he lunged toward the younger lion, knocking him into reality.

Kopa let out a startled scream when he fell down from being pushed and rolled over to the very end of the hill, barely being able to stop before he fell down from it. He sat up and watched the flames bellow, red and yellow dancing together.

Taka quickly leaned down to grab Kion in his mouth, hoping he hadn't hurt the cub in his hurry as he looked back. They couldn't go back, there was no space between the fire and not enough space to get a boost strong enough to jump over it.

The only way out was forward.

Once again he closed his eyes and prayed, knowing that this was the only solution but that it was far from being a guarantee. Crouching down to get as much of a boost as he could and tightening the grip around Kion, Taka jumped toward Kopa, who screamed again.

The three of them went down the hill, quickly rolling over the flames, Taka and Kopa losing some of the tips of their manes in the process. Kopa yelled and Taka let go of Kion as they hit the ground, and Kopa begged that he hadn't broken any bones as he rolled over a little more before finally stopping.

"Asante?" He called as he lifted his head from the ground and saw that both Taka and Kion were lying beside him, both of them motionless. His head grew heavy and his sight grew dim, and he could feel consciousness leaving him as he had reached his breaking point. With the last straw of strength he had inside his body, he stood up and grabbed Kion in his mouth, pushing him onto his back; and then he grabbed Taka's neck with his teeth.

He began pulling the elder lion away from the fire as much as he could, being careful not to drop Kion. All he thought was that they needed to get away. As far as possible.

He felt the mist around him was giving space to air as the fire was left behind them. He could still feel it in the air, but hoped that he had managed to drag them away far enough so that the fire wouldn't reach them.

He couldn't fail again.

He wouldn't fail ever again.

That was all he could think of before it all became a blur and he passed out, dropping Kion as he hit the ground, dust going up around his tired, motionless body.


	15. War feature

**Wow, it had been a while. Sorry guys, I hadn't been in a writing mood, and school held me back. I feel like this is a little rusty, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless!**

* * *

Kion was the first one to wake up.

His eyes blinked open, slowly, as consciousness returned to him. His heart was beating in an unsteady rhythm, and his sight was blurry, as he found himself lost in a moment of confusion. As the shadows and smudges in front of his eyes recovered their form, the memories came back to his mind.

He raised his head from the ground and looked aside. His heart sped up and he jumped up when he saw Taka and Kipawa lying beside him, motionless. Kion felt dizzy for standing up too fast and shook his head before approaching Kipawa and biting his ear to wake him up.

"Kipawa? Hey, come on." Kion could feel Kipawa's breath on his body, meaning that he was alive. That brought him some comfort, but it soon went away when the other lion didn't move, "Wake up!"

Kipawa remained as still and as motionless as he was. Kion then turned to Taka and poked his face, in a much more delicate manner than when he did it to Kipawa. "Taka? Wake up! Come on, guys… Wake up…"

Kion gave a few steps back to look at the lions laying there. Both were breathing in slow, steady rhythms; as though they were in a deep, peaceful sleep. The fire was starting to die out behind them, but the air around remained heavy and full of smoke. Kion gasped, trying to get some clear air into his lungs, but it felt as if there were none there. His throat hurt and burned, and he knew the dizziness wouldn't leave him until he left that place.

"Kipawa! Taka! Wake up!" He tried to call them in a last desperate attempt before he sighed and bolted toward the Pride Rock. The sun was already down, and the flames in the sky made it almost impossible for Kion to make his way out the fumes in the darkness of the night.

It took him a while, but soon enough, he was out of the fumes and the fire – alongside Kipawa and Taka – were now far behind him. Kion took a deep breath, feeling his body waking up inside when he finally got some fresh air into his lungs. He felt tired and his legs hurt, but he still needed to get home. He needed to get to his father. Simba would know what to do, and he would be able to save Kipawa and Taka.

Kion looked over his shoulder one more time before nodding and running again, certain that his father wouldn't refuse to help those who had saved his life.

* * *

Kopa's eyes fluttered open. He rolled upright and wiped his snout with his paw, trying to take the foul taste the smoke and ashes left in his mouth. He stood up with a burning pain in his shoulder blades and sweat running down his fur as he panted; feeling the drops of sweat evaporating as fast as they came up, doing little to nothing to cool him down.

For a few seconds, everything was just a blur. He tried to string thoughts together but all that came to his mind was the thought of running.

His mind came back to its right place as soon as he saw Taka lying motionless by his side. Panic took over him as he jumped closer to the older lion, tears pricking the corners of his eyes before he could help it.

"Asante? Asante, wake up!" Kopa yelled, snaking his muzzle under Taka's neck and pushing him up, only to feel Taka's head sliding down his snout and falling back on the ground, much like a lifeless body would.

"Taka! Asante!" He yelled again, desperate for any reaction, but there was none. Kopa began panting, the dust invading his lungs made him feel as if there was something caught in his throat. "Wake up! Don't… Don't you dare die on me!"

There was rage and desperation mixed in his voice. Kopa bit his lower lip until the skin broke and the metallic taste of blood took over his mouth, yet that didn't seem to affect him; as if he hadn't even noticed the wound.

Kopa hissed when the ashes floating around him got into his mouth, touching the wound and sparkling a burning sensation. All he wanted to do was to wake Taka up and go back home. He didn't want to be there. His body hurt, his mouth burned, his legs felt as if they might give in any minute from the pain; he just wanted to go home.

"Taka?" He sobbed and shook his head, "Asante, please, wake up."

After what felt like an eternity, Taka let out a grunt and attempted to stand up, coughing. Kopa's eyes lit up in relief and he smiled, approaching Taka and rubbing his head under his chin. Taka seemed to be startled for a while, but calmed down once he saw it was just Kopa.

"Kipawa," Taka called, stepping back so that he could look around, "Where's Kion?"

It was only then that Kopa noticed the younger lion was nowhere to be found.

"I, I don't know. I'm sure I brought him out here with us-"

Kopa was interrupted when Taka's breath hastened and he coughed again, wheezing. Kopa shook his head and approached Taka again, using his head to help the lion stand upright once more.

"Let's get you out of here," He spoke as Taka leaned on him to regain his balance.

"What," Taka coughed out in between breaths, "What about Kion?"

Kopa looked around, searching for the lion cub. He sniffed the air, but all he got was the smell of smoke and ashes, which went down his throat and burned his nostrils.

"I, I don't know," Kopa twitched his nose to try to get rid of the ashes, "But he's not here. He might have gone away while we were out. Now come on, let's get out of here."

Taka seemed reluctant, but he sighed and gave in; finally allowing Kopa to guide him out of there. He leaned on Kopa and dragged his paws along with the little strength he had left in him. By the time when they reached the end of the smoke, he couldn't even feel his legs.

"I think you better get some rest," Kopa spoke softly as he helped Taka lay down on the ground and nuzzled his side, before turning away and looking around.

"What about you?"

"I'll go look around, see if I find any sign of Kion," Kopa sighed, "But I believe he's gone home by now. I'll get us something to eat and find a place where we can sleep."

Kopa began walking away, leaving a confused Taka behind. He wasn't that careless.

"Kipawa?" Taka called. Kopa stopped walking, but didn't turn around, "Is everything alright?"

Kopa's heart fluttered.

"I, I just want to go home." He looked back and forced a smile, which didn't fool Taka at all.

"Alright. Take care," Taka smiled back regardless, much to Kopa's relief.

"I will. Make sure you take care, too. I'll be back soon."

Taka stood in silence as Kopa began walking away, disappearing among the grass and into the distance.

* * *

"Uh, did anyone else hear that?" Bunga asked, sitting up from his usual sleeping spot.

There was no reply as everyone else around him was already too into sleep to hear him. He rolled his eyes and poked Timon with his elbow to wake him up.

"Hey, uncle Timon, wake up," He called. The meerkat opened his eyes only long enough for him to push Bunga away before he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes again. Bunga frowned and poked him again, "Uncle Timon, wake up!"

"Oh, what is it you want, kid? Don't you see it's late?" He complained as he sat up and stretched.

"I heard something! It came from outside the Pride Rock." He pointed frantically to the end of the cave.

Timon rolled his eyes, "Listen, Bunga, a lot of stuff happens outside. Stuff that makes a lot of noise." He said before he lay down again, getting ready to go back to sleep.

"No, you don't understand!" Bunga insisted. "It sounded like-"

Timon and Bunga jumped up, startled, when a yelp came from outside. Timon stood up, heart in his throat, "D-Did you hear that?"

"That was what I was trying to talk to you about! I heard a yell that sounded like-"

"That was a weird nightmare," Pumbaa suddenly said, yawning and sitting up, "I just dreamed that we were in the Pride Rock, and then everyone woke up because there was a yell outside that sounded just like Kion-"

"That's what I'm trying to say!" The honey-badger jumped and stomped his foot. "I'm sure it was his voice, I'd never get it wrong!"

Suddenly, another groan ripped through the air and they turned their heads to look at where it had come from and saw Simba standing up and walking toward them with a smile.

"Hey, what's gotten into you?"

"Simba! You have to-"

 _"Dad!"_

A voice called from outside, stealing Simba's attention. His heart began beating fast as he leaped out of the cave, not daring to believe to what seemed to be. Timon, Pumbaa and Bunga followed him outside, and so the commotion woke up everyone else. They watched, confused, as the king ran outside.

Simba stood outside the cave, looking around and panting in expectation. Timon, Bunga and Pumbaa did the same.

"Simba, what's wrong?" Nala approached her husband from behind, her voice still sounding sleepy and Kiara following her closely.

"Nala, we heard-"

"Dad!"

Everyone turned their heads to look to where that familiar voice had come from, and soon enough, Kion leaped onto the Pride Rock; his yellow figure looking tired and shaking as he panted. His face brightened up in a smile once he saw his family and he ran to them.

"Dad!"

"Kion!" Everyone exclaimed and ran to him before they enveloped him a group hug. Kion's racing heart slowed down a bit as he sighed and smiled, allowing himself to enjoy that. Tears began pricking the corners of his eyes once he found himself surrounded by those he loved and had missed so dearly.

"I knew you were alright! I knew, I knew it!" Bunga began jumping up and down, hands on Kion's shoulders as he shook the lion cub, "Everyone said you wouldn't make it, but I knew you would, I just knew you would!"

"T-Thank you, Bunga-a," Kion's voice quivered due to Bunga's enthusiasm. Simba pushed Bunga away from his son and sighed, leaning down and nuzzling Kion, who nuzzled him back.

"I'm so glad you're alive. We missed you," Simba sighed as he stood upright and looked down at Kion, only then noticing the small gashes he had on his body and the foul, burnt smell on his fur, "What happened to you?"

"Heh," Kion shrugged, "It's quite a long story. You see, Kipawa and T-" He jumped up and gasped when it hit him. "Dad, you have to help them!"

Simba blinked and tilted his head, "Kion, what? What are you talking about?"

"I'll explain in the way! Now come with me!" He said before he turned around and left the Pride Rock, running away from his father. Everyone there exchanged confused glances before they shook their heads and began following Kion.

* * *

"… And then they brought me here, but I was caught in a fire that started when the lightning hit. I, I passed out, and next thing I know I woke up near them and I couldn't wake them up, and I was afraid they wouldn't make it-"

"It's alright, Kion, calm down," Simba said when Kion's breath sped up. "We're going to find them."

Kion had lead them to where the fire had taken place, but he couldn't remember where exactly he had woken up. He just looked around, hoping to find them, as everyone else did the same.

"So, let me get this straight. The river took you to the other side of the jungle, where this lion found you, and then you lived with him and this other old dude and they brought you here?" Bunga asked.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Kion kept looking around.

Bunga looked to Simba and then to his uncles, "Still a less weird story than being raised by a meerkat and a warthog."

"Hey!" Timon took his hands to his hips.

"I don't understand," Kion sat down and his ears folded back, "They were here! I swear they were here! They didn't wake up, so I went home and-"

"Kion," Nala walked up to her son and laid a paw on his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm sure they're alright."

"Maybe they just woke up and went home!" Bunga suggested with a smile.

Kion frowned, "Maybe. I guess that's what happened. I just wish I could have said goodbye." Kion said, but then he picked up a smell that was oddly familiar.

Simba sighed, tired, "Well, I believe we better go home then-"

"I can smell him! Taka!" Kion jumped up and began running again, without waiting for his family. Everyone raised their eyebrows before following the lion cub, except for Simba, who was stood still, appalled.

 _Did he say Taka?_

* * *

"Taka!"

Taka heard someone calling his name and raised his head from the ground. Initially he thought it was Kipawa, but then he realized it was Kion's voice.

"Kion?" He tilted his head and stood up, straining. He looked to where the voice had come from, and it wasn't long until a lion cub popped out from between the grass. Taka chuckled when Kion smiled and ran toward him.

"Taka! I found you! Are you alright?" He looked up at Taka, relieved to see that he seemed to be fine.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Nice to see that you're too, kid. Kipawa went looking for you. Where did you wander off to?"

"Well I couldn't wake you up so I got scared, so I went to call my dad for help-"

"Wait!" Taka interrupted, eyes wide, as he stepped back from the confused cub, "You did what?!"

"Kion, slow down!" Nala said as she finally managed to catch up with her son, but she stopped in her tracks once she saw the lion near his cub, "Oh, god."

"Mom?" Kion approached her, looking back and forth at her and Taka, trying to understand why they both seemed so confused and startled. "What's wrong?"

"Kion…" Nala whispered eerily calm with dead eyes, "Come here, please."

"Mom?" Kion yelped when Nala reached out for him and yanked the lion cub close to her in one swift move.

"Kid, next time you disappear and come back can you please not do it when we're trying to sleep?" Timon groaned as he dragged himself toward Nala, Pumbaa following him from behind. However, his tiredness disappeared when his eyes fell upon Taka and he let out an ear-piercing scream before he jumped behind Pumbaa, who was having a similar reaction.

"Guys! Guys!" Kion tried to make them stop yelling, to no use. He looked up at his mom and then at Taka, noticing that they still had the same weird expressions. He shook himself away from Nala's hold and looked up at her. "Mom, what's going on?"

"Kion-" She tried to explain, but she was cut off when Simba jumped in front of them, roaring. Taka jumped backwards, shrinking in fear and closing his eyes.

"Dad!" Kion yelled, running to Simba and standing in front of him, "I don't get it, what's happening?"

"Stand back!" Simba yelled as he pushed Kion back, a little stronger than he meant to. Kion lost his balance and fell, shaking his head, confused as to what was happening.

"Dad!" Kiara exclaimed when she got there and saw what Simba did to her brother, "What is going on here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Simba snarled to Taka, approaching him and looking down at him. Taka quivered. "How are you even alive?!"

"Simba, I-"

"Dad!" Kion yelled, going to stand up his ground between Simba and Taka. He looked up at his father in disapproval. "I don't understand, what's going on?"

"Kion, stand back! You don't know who this is!"

"Yes, I do!" He stomped his paw, "It's Taka, one of the lions who took me in and helped me when I got lost! I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him!"

Simba lost his menacing tone, giving a step back as he looked up at Taka, who was still crouching down and shivering under the king's gaze, "What?"

"I, uh, I-" Taka stuttered, his legs shaking so much that he thought his knees would give in any moment.

"He saved me," Kion nodded, "Well, technically Kipawa saved me, but if it hadn't been for Taka's help too, I wouldn't be here. Dad, what's… What's going on?"

Simba sighed and closed his eyes, scrunching his face.

"'Taka'?" Nala asked and tilted her head.

"Yes, queen," Taka looked at her and closed his eyes. He opened them to see a confused, scared Kion looking up at him, "That was my old name, before I changed it."

"Changed it?" Kion tilted his head as well, feeling betrayed. Taka had lied to him? "Wha… What's your name?"

Taka looked up at Simba, whose eyes stared at him with rage and disgust.

"I changed it… To match a war feature."

Kion looked at him for a while before his jaw dropped with the implications.

"Scar?"

Silence took over as the brown lion nodded quietly.


	16. Madness

**Wow, that was fast! Thank you so much for your support guys, it does keep me going!**

 **Quick transition chapter, because the next one will be quite long and I didn't want to split things up too much. Hope you enjoy it still!**

* * *

In one swift move, Simba reached out for Kion and pulled him back, taking the cub away from Taka. The king stepped toward the brown lion, who crouched in fear under the ferocious look Simba had on him.

"I always thought of you as a coward," He spoke calmly, "But I do have to admit that coming back here was a brave move of yours."

"Simba, I-"

"The last time we spoke, I told you that you didn't deserve to live, but you did." Simba approached Taka even more, and Taka sunk so low in fear that he could feel the ground scratching his stomach.

"Simba, what are you-"

"Dad!" Kion called, snapping Simba out of his rage-induced trance, "Taka, Scar, hum, he saved me. He saved the life of a royal. You're in debt with him!"

Taka looked at Kion with a surprised expression, which got him to wonder how much the cub actually knew about him if he was still willing to defend him from his father.

"Kion," Simba looked appalled, "What are you saying? You _know_ …"

"I do!" Kion suddenly seemed out of breath, "But… He saved me… You can't kill him. A king never breaks the rules."

Simba looked at Kion and growled in frustration once he realized the cub was right, the rage inside of him growing like a beast he couldn't control.

"Simba…" Taka called, and he shook when Simba looked back at him with another growl, "When we last spoke, you had mercy on me and told me to run away and never return. I was a fool not to listen to you when I had the chance."

Taka felt confident enough to stand upright, and Simba waited for him to make his point.

"I won't make the same mistake again. I wouldn't have come back here, if not for Kion. Trust me," He looked at the cub with a soft smile, "Give me that chance again. Let me go, and I'll never return."

Simba pondered.

"You may go. Consider this my thank you for having saved my son," He breathed heavily, "And don't ever, ever return. Do you hear me?"

Taka smiled nervously, "Yes, yes I do! Thank you, your majesty, thank you so much!" He quickly jumped up and turned around, hoping to find Kopa soon so that they could go home and return to their old life.

Simba rolled his eyes and turned his back on Taka, calling for Kion to follow him, but the cub stood still, looking at Taka as he began to walk away.

"Kion," Simba called when he noticed the cub wasn't following them.

"Taka!" Kion ignored his father, and the brown lion turned back to him.

Silence followed.

"Hum, thank you." The cub whispered, "For saving me."

Kion looked down, and then up at Taka's eyes. Simba might have been blinded by the rage, but Kion saw kindness in them as Taka smiled at him. How could that lion, the one who took him in and brought him back home, be the same one who did so many awful things?

All Taka did was to nod in response.

"Kion," Simba called again, voice making it clear that he was about to run out of patience, "Let's go home."

"Wait!" He pleaded, "I want to thank Kipawa too. Please, dad. They saved me. And if I'm never to see them again, I just want to say one last goodbye."

"Kipawa?" Nala questioned.

"Yeah. Taka's friend. He hunts for us and he helped bring me here." Kion looked around, "Where is he?"

"Hum, he went looking for you-"

"Asante," They all turned their heads when they heard a voice calling, and soon enough, the teen lion emerged from the tall grass, "I can't seem to find him- Nyasi yangu!"

Kopa gasped once he turned his head and saw not only Kion, but also Simba, Nala, Kiara, Timon, Pumbaa and a honey badger standing around Taka.

As the teen lion came into view, Simba felt his world shattering around him, and Taka couldn't seem to understand why Kipawa's presence had such an effect on the king. And even more strange was Kipawa's reaction of fear once he saw the royal family.

He never feared anything.

Simba couldn't breathe as he began approaching the teen lion. Silence surrounded them, everyone quiet and frozen in place, as if to wait for what was going to happen next. Taka stood upright, suspicious, and prepared himself to jump on Simba in case he did anything to hurt Kipawa.

He would lose that fight, he knew that. But he would not let Kipawa be attacked without trying to defend him.

Simba stopped walking and stood close enough to touch Kopa, but he didn't. He stood still, red eyes staring into blue ones.

"Kopa?" He looked Kopa up and down once, "Is that… Is that you?" He asked, despite already knowing the answer to that question. Kopa's silence just seemed to confirm it even more.

Taka frowned, "You know him?"

"Kopa?" Kion breathed out, eyebrow raised.

But Simba didn't seem to hear them as he kept staring into Kopa's eyes. He slowly reached out for Kopa, and Taka seemed to be ready to attack, but Simba wasn't menacing toward Kopa.

He was hugging him.

Kopa stood still, body frozen in place, as he let himself be engulfed by the king's warm hug. Taka tilted his head, trying to make any sense out of what he was seeing, but the things he knew did not seem to come together with the scene happening in front of him.

Kion was just as confused.

"You're alive," Simba whispered into Kopa's neck before letting him go.

Simba's eyes got watery, a shaky smile took over his face and he seemed to struggle to find the words he wanted to say.

"All of those years…" Kopa couldn't tell whether his father was happy or on the verge of breaking down, "All of those years… Wow, look at you. You've grown so much. You're beautiful."

Kopa had his ears folded back and his eyes were distant, but his lack of enthusiasm didn't seem to affect Simba at all, as he kept smiling with shining eyes and looking at his son.

"Kipawa," Taka approached Kopa carefully, "You know Simba?"

"Kipawa?" Simba gasped and looked at Kopa, before looking at Kion. Kion had said 'Kipawa' was a friend of Taka's. But then… "Kopa, what's happening?"

Kopa wanted to run away. He wanted to go with Taka back to their home and back to their live. Back to normal. That was what he'd feared and avoided all those years. All he never wanted to happen. All his efforts; they had been in vain.

There had no use in trying to hide anything now.

"Hi, dad." He greeted, looking at Simba.

And it was Taka's turn to have his world shattered.

"Dad?" He questioned, looking back and forth between Kopa and Simba. Sure, he had noticed the two looked uncannily similar, but he had put it down to the coincidence of the similarity… "You mean… You're Simba's son."

It hadn't been a question.

"Scar," Simba turned to Taka, voice low and angry once again, "What's the meaning of this?"

"Scar?" Kopa turned to Taka, ears folded back.

"Mind to explain what you have to do with my son?" Simba turned his head.

"I thought you were an abandoned cub," Taka spoke to Kopa instead, "I don't understand…"

"What?" Simba turned to Kopa, "Abandoned cub? What's going on?"

Kopa walked up to Taka, eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Scar?" He questioned in a whisper, no more words being said. He didn't need to say anything else for Taka to understand his question. The sheer trace of hope the younger lion had in his eyes broke Taka's heart; he knew he'd have to break that.

Taka remained silence, confirming Kopa's fear.

"I…" Taka let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, "I believe there are some things that need to be sorted out between all of you." He looked over to the other animals and lions standing behind them and then looked to Kopa, and Simba.

"Thank you, your majesty," He bowed in front of Simba, "I'll go away, and never return, like you ordered me to."

"Asante?" Kopa whispered when the lion turned to him.

Taka felt a pain in his heart once his eyes met those of the one he'd raised. Memories of the cub he'd found long ago flashed in front of his eyes, and a physical pain hit him when he forced himself to hold back the tears.

"Goodbye, Kip- Kopa," He whispered, voice quivering.

"What?"

Kopa's heart stung as the brown lion turned around and slowly walked away from him, getting farther and farther away.

"Asante!"

Taka stopped in his tracks, surprised when the young lion called him out. Kopa jumped toward him, and Simba stood in front of him to keep him from reaching Taka. He was left in shock when Kopa dodged him and ran to Taka.

"Kipawa?" Taka expected Kopa to yell at him. To be mad at him for lying about who he was and hiding such a part of his past. He expected Kopa to feel betrayed.

But once Kopa got close to him, he didn't do any of that.

"What do you mean, you're going away and never returning?" He seemed hurt.

"I, I have nothing to do here anymore." Taka looked aside and sighed.

"What about me?"

Taka was surprised to find Kopa with tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

"What?"

"Are you just going to leave me here?" Kopa's voice began quivering.

Taka shook his head. He glanced at Kion and then at Kopa, before looking at Simba. The king held a confused expression, as if he was just as lost as he was. He wondered just how much Kopa knew about him.

"Kipawa," Taka sighed, "Due to recent events, I just thought you-"

"Don't give me that stuff!" Kopa exploded, sending Taka a step back, "Don't think for me!"

Taka stayed silent.

"All my life, up to the point when I met you, everyone thought for me. Everyone seemed to know what's best for me, what I could do, what I _should_ do…" He glanced back at Simba, hoping he couldn't hear what he said, "I don't like that. I don't like when you do that. I don't like when anyone does that."

In that moment, a lot of Kopa's weird behavior suddenly made sense in Taka's head.

"You're Simba's son." Taka stated quietly.

"Yes." Kopa said, even though it hadn't been a question.

"This," Taka looked away, "This is where you belong. With your family."

"You're my family."

Taka seemed to smile for a faint moment. "No. I'm not anymore."

Kopa sighed, and pondered, before he looked to Simba. He couldn't let Taka go, but Simba would make him stay. He stood upright and took a deep breath.

"If he leaves, I'm leaving with him." He stated.

Everyone else gasped as Simba approached Kopa.

"Kopa, what are you saying?" He had hopes his son had to be kidding. Or mad. "Have you forgotten who that is?"

"No, I have not. This is the one who took me in and raised me into the one I am today. He took care of me without expecting anything of me. He's Asante."

Simba shook his head.

"Kopa, that's Scar-"

"I don't care!" He stomped his paw. "He's Asante to me, and he's part of my family as much as you are! If you want him to leave, I'm leaving with him. If you want me to stay, you'll have to let him stay too."

Simba had no doubt about it now.

Kopa had to be mad.


	17. I hope so

**This is mostly dialog, with a bit of transition before I get to the deeper parts of the story.**

* * *

"Kopa, I don't understand-"

Simba began talking, but he was interrupted by Rafiki when the monkey approached Kopa with a smile on his face, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"Oh, look who it is! At long last, the prince has returned!" He walked to Kopa and wrapped his arms around the lion, who gasped at the sudden touch, "And look how much you've grown!"

Kopa stepped back from Rafiki and pushed the monkey away awkwardly. "Uh, nice to see you too, Rafiki. It's been a while."

"It sure has!" Rafiki laughed and petted him on the head, a little too strong for comfort, "You were just a tiny little cub when you ran away!"

"Ran away?" Nala questioned.

"Kopa didn't run away," Kiara chipped in, frowning at Rafiki, "He wouldn't!"

"Yeah," Simba sighed, although he didn't sound very convinced. He walked closer to Kopa and looked his son in the eye, "You wouldn't, would you?"

Simba hoped that Kopa would give him the answer he wanted, but all the young lion did was remain silent and look down, not being able to face the disappointment in his father's eyes as unshed tears began to form. Once again, silent was enough to answer.

The king was left astonished as the impossibility became reality. "But… Why?"

"It doesn't matter," Kopa took a deep breath, "Not anymore."

"It doesn't matter?" Simba shook his head, his expression of despair turning into anger, "You _ran away_!"

Simba yelled and accidently spat on Kopa's face as he did so, the younger lion shivered and cleaned his face with his paw while Simba kept his yelling.

"Do you have any idea of how we felt when you disappeared?" Simba's voice quivered and he shook his head as memories flooded back to him and brought back emotions he'd been trying to suppress for years, "The things we went through? Did you ever think of how-?"

"Oh, quit it already!" Kopa exploded, jumping up, " _Me, me, me!_ " He mimicked the king, "Is that all you can think about? It's always about what _you_ feel, what _you_ want! Did you ever stop to think about what _I_ wanted? No! Not even once!"

Simba gave a step back, breathing heavily.

"It's always about you! Not about me!" Kopa was wheezing, his eyes were sparkling with tears that made it difficult for him to breathe.

"Kopa…" Simba tried to approach him, only to have the younger lion turn away from him and turn to Taka for support, but the brown lion stood still, unsure of what to do and too shocked to think of anything. "I just, I was only trying to do what was best for you."

"Right," Kopa scoffed, turning back to Simba, "All you ever thought about was what you wanted me to do, but I never asked for this, I never wanted this; all that I wanted was to be myself! But you kept trying to make me be someone else! You act surprised, yet you were the very reason why I ran away!"

Several gasps were followed by deadly silence, Kopa's words fierce and sharp like a knife that had pierced Simba's heart. Still, the younger lion paid no mind and turned away from his father.

"Come on Asante, let's go back home!" He demanded, for the first time not caring about what Taka had to say on the matter.

"K-Kipawa…" Taka stuttered, as he looked back and forth to Simba and Kopa. The only time Taka had ever seen that look in Simba's eyes was when he comforted him about Mufasa's death, all those years before.

Kopa kept walking away from them, yet he stopped when he realized Taka wasn't following him.

"Asante. Let's go." He demanded again, authority in his voice. He wouldn't take no for an answer this time, and that was quite clear.

"It's… It's quite late. It wouldn't be wise to travel now." Simba sighed.

"Actually, it's almost morning- Ow!" Bunga said and Kiara slapped him on the head before motioning for him to be quiet.

"Simba?" Taka questioned carefully.

"I get in debt with those who save the life of a royal. Scar saved Kopa, Kopa saved Kion. You two are allowed to stay here until I have a verdict. You don't have to leave."

"We don't need your judgment. We don't want it." Kopa said, barely turning his head to look back at Simba. "We don't want to stay here."

"Kopa, please." Simba pleaded.

Kopa remained still, looking at Taka.

"Kipawa," Taka said, "We should stay for the night."

Kopa's eyes widened and he gasped, his previously serious gaze fading away as horror took over his face. "You're going to side with him now?"

"W-What?" Taka muttered.

Kopa backed away even more, "Are you going to tell me what's better for me now, too?"

"Kipawa, I just meant-"

"Oh, I know what you meant, you meant that you know what's better for me better than I do, right?"

Taka shrank under the younger lion's gaze, for the first time seeing Kopa's eyes filled with rage.

"Kopa, I just meant that-"

Before Taka could even finish his sentence, Kopa closed his eyes and lunged away, running off as fast as he could.

"Kopa!" Simba yelled and tried to follow him, but Taka jumped in front of the king before he could move too far.

"No!" Taka told him.

Simba tried to walk past Taka, but he mirrored the king's moves to block his way until Kopa was out of sight.

"Scar, what in-?"

"You heard him," Taka sighed, "He's tired of others telling him what he needs to do. Leave him alone. It's what he wants to do now. Just leave him be."

"Are you mad?" Simba snarled, "What if he-"

"He will come back." Taka nodded, already knowing what the king feared, for he feared the same. But he knew there was no reason to.

"How can you know?"

Taka took a deep breath before looking at Simba, "He always does."

Silence surrounded them before Taka added; "He's stubborn, not careless."

Simba stared to the direction where Kopa had ran off to before he sighed and closed his eyes, admitting defeat on the discussion.

More silence.

"Uh, what now?" Kion asked, approaching Simba and looking at Taka.

Simba took a deep breath and looked up to Taka.

"We don't have rules about this specific occasion," He began with deep voice, "But I am fairly sure that killing a royal gives me the right to deny you any parole for saving a royal."

Taka swallowed and looked down, nodding slightly to signify that he agreed with Simba. He knew the king would send him away. At least, that's what Simba wanted to do. His second option, anyway. The second one included bloodshed and death, but he knew he couldn't do that with so many witnesses. And yeah, it probably wouldn't be the right thing to do either.

He just wanted to send Taka away.

But he needed him if he wanted his son back.

"You stay here tonight."

More gasps filled the air.

"Simba?" Nala questioned as she approached her husband, who was visibly upset with the situation.

"Kion was right," He looked at his son, "A king must always follow the rules. And Scar did save the life of a royal. Two, in fact."

Simba could feel those around him questioning his sanity.

"Let's go home. It's late."

Everyone exchanged confused looks as they followed Simba to the Pride Rock with their heads down and ears folded back. Taka followed them as well, but made sure to keep his distance from everyone else.

"I… I can't believe Scar's still alive," Kiara muttered.

Kion looked at his sister and then looked at the dangled figured following them.

"Maybe… Maybe Scar's dead, after all." He pondered and sighed as Kiara gave him a puzzled look, "But Taka surely isn't."

Kiara tilted her head, "And… That's a good thing?"

"I hope so, Kiara," Kion shrugged, "I hope so."


	18. Still and always

**I feel like this isn't my best, I'm sorry. Well, I hope it's still enjoyable.**

* * *

Taka never thought he'd ever be back to his old den in this lifetime.

Looking around brought wave after wave of unknown emotions to his tight-feeling chest.

The Pride Lands were, and would always be, the place where he was born and grew up. It'd always be in his memory and heart as the first place he ever came to know.

But his den was special.

It was the place where he ran off to when he wanted to be alone, the place where he'd meet his outlander friends, away from Ahadi's judgement, the place where he chose to live after his brother took the throne. It seemed to be the closest place to ever feel somewhat like 'home' to him.

"Are you going to sleep here tonight, then?" Simba asked, as Taka stood still and looked around his dark den under the moonlight.

"Well, what other option do I have?" He looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, smirking. "I assume I wouldn't be welcome to sleep in that comfortable rock of yours with your family."

Taka had a glimpse of a playful look that vanished when Simba growled at him, but he still didn't seem to be scared.

"Don't you dare play any tricks on us, Scar-"

"Taka," He interrupted with a sigh.

Simba was taken aback by Taka's lack of fear and interruption.

"What?"

"Taka," He repeated, "That's my name. I… I don't go by Scar. Not anymore."

"So, you picked a new name… And decided you wanted to be called _dirt_?" Simba held back a laugh.

"No, you dumb-" Taka began to say, but stopped himself when Simba shot him a menacing glare. Cleaning his throat, he continued, "Your majesty. My name has always been Taka. I just started going by Scar when I got this."

He tilted his head so that his scarred eye was right under a moonbeam.

"When you…" Simba's voice faded when it hit him, for he had never thought about that. Ever since he knew himself, his uncle had always had that scar. It felt weird, unnatural even, to imagine him without it. "Scar wasn't always your name."

Taka rolled his eyes.

"What, you thought I was born with this? Or that my father somewhat guessed I'd grow up to get a scar and named me accordingly in advance? I don't think that's a power kings possess, but well, I wouldn't know, would I?"

Simba couldn't tell if Taka was being sarcastic or not. He just looked… neutral.

"So, now it's Taka again."

"Yes." He nodded. "I went back to the name I should never have left."

Simba blinked. "What about… Asante?"

" _Karibu, Simba,_ " He looked down.

The king took a deep breath, annoyed. "You know what I meant. Kopa called you Asante. Kion called him Kipawa. What about those names?"

Taka tried to answer, but his throat felt locked, as if it was a touchy subject for him. He gulped to get the that knock down and shook his head.

"Your son and I had more in common than our unknown blood ties, it seems," He sighed, "We both had things in our past that we wanted to forget. A name is powerful. It can mean so many things, it can carry so many meanings, it can bring a lot of… memories."

Simba approached Taka, intrigued by his vagueness. "Meaning?"

"We both wanted to forget things that our names made us think of. He thanked me a lot for having saved him, and after a while, I began accustomed with the word Asante, that would then become my third name."

A smile seemed to come to Taka's face, but it went away so quickly that Simba thought he had hallucinated it.

"And you call my son 'gift'." He stated, but it was obvious to them both that he wanted an answer.

"In many ways, that's what he was," Taka sighed and looked at Simba with pleading eyes.

Simba took a deep breath, and as his chest inflated, he could feel his heart beating fast and aching inside his chest. He couldn't decide whether it was anger, sadness, or annoyance. Probably all of them together.

"So, you kill my father," Simba growled, so low that Taka barely heard it, "But you're grateful for my son."

Taka shrank in the corner of his den, dreading each moment of that conversation and praying it'd be over soon.

"He thinks I call him a 'gift' because he came when I was lonely and then he made me company, and while that is not a lie, it's not the whole truth either," Taka found himself telling Simba before he could think about what he was doing, "I call him gift because taking care of him helped me ease the pain and guilt I felt from kill… losing, my brother. He even looked like Mufasa."

Taka stopped talking and looked down at his paws, as though he was ashamed, but it was the memories that made it hard for him.

"At first, I thought of calling him _Utani_ ," Taka scoffed with a smile.

"Joke?" Simba questioned.

"It all felt like an evil prank from the kings of the past, to give me a cub that would remind me of my deceased brother and unforgivable sin every time I laid my eyes on him; that would bring me shame and pain with his mere appearance; he made me feel awful without any effort, and I would curse the coincidence of similarity for days…"

Simba watched in silence while Taka stared blankly ahead, his eyes shining ever so lightly under the faint moonlight with the unshed tears that began forming in his eyes.

It was the first time Simba ever saw Taka cry.

"We'll decide upon your destiny when Kopa returns," Simba sighed, "For now, we shall sleep."

Taka took his paw to his face and wiped his eyes, and when he opened them again, Simba was gone.

Sighing in relief that the conversation was over, he left the den and stood by its entrance, alone. He laid down there and just observed, attentive to every detail; hopeful that every noise and movement would be Kipawa returning.

He watched the stars, always silent, shining from above. Sleep began taking over him, and he fought against it. He did not want to sleep until he was sure Kipawa would return.

 _What if he doesn't?_ ; that was the last thought on Taka's troubled mind before he lost the battle to his tiredness and let himself fall asleep.

* * *

Kopa entered Taka's den as slowly as he could; his steps so quick and short that it felt as though he was barely even moving. An effort to make as least noise as possible, not to disturb Taka's sleep.

For a moment, it seemed that they had come back to their old lives; to the many times when Kopa would enter their cave carefully so that Taka wouldn't wake up. Before all that mess happened; before he got caught up in everything he tried so hard to avoid.

He missed when his biggest worry was to make sure he wouldn't disturb Taka.

But Taka always woke up. And that time would be no different.

"Kipawa?"

Kopa sighed and shook his head, already expecting that; wondering why he still bothered to try to be quiet. He turned to look where the older lion had fallen asleep and saw him raising his head from the ground and then standing up.

"Hey, Asante," Kopa smiled, "Sorry I woke you up."

"Where have you been?" Taka asked, ignoring Kopa's words; as he walked up to Kopa.

"Here and there," Kopa rolled his eyes, sighing; talking was the last thing he wanted to do right then. "I needed some fresh air."

"It's almost morning," Taka growled, once again ignoring the younger one; still half asleep, "I was worried sick about you."

Kopa opened his mouth, but shrank back in silence, as if he'd decided that it wasn't worth arguing back. He was too tired, too mad to talk about it anyway.

"I'm sorry," He smiled and shrugged, "For running off like that."

Taka glared angrily at him for a moment, but then he shook his head and took a deep breath, smiling.

"Are you alright?"

For the first time, Taka paid attention to Kopa's answer.

"Yeah, I am. I didn't go anywhere dangerous. And you know that I can defend myself anyway, right?"

Taka didn't answer; instead, he raised his paw and wrapped it around Kopa, bringing him close in one swift move. Kopa let out a yelp, but calmed down soon; letting Taka embrace him as he gladfully returned it.

"I'm so happy you came back," Taka whispered into Kopa's fur, and Kopa's eyes widened.

"But of course," He said, backing away from the hug. "Why wouldn't I?"

Taka looked aside, "I thought that… Given the recent events, and the recent, hum, revelations… You might not want to stay around Scar."

Kopa's eyes widened, as if he hadn't considered that before; or as if that sounded absurd to him. Taka prayed it was the latter.

"You're not Scar," Kopa sighed, "You're Asante."

Taka stood in silence, surprised at the younger's words, as if he had spoken them in another language. It wasn't long, however, before it became clear to him.

They had the same pain.

"And you're not Kopa," Taka stated, even if he meant it as a question.

"No," Kopa smiled, "I'm Kipawa."

Taka took a deep breath and smiled at the younger one, relieved.

"Still my Kipawa," Taka sounded relieved.

"Still, and always," He answered as they hugged again.

Neither of them had any idea of what their future was going to be; but for the first time in quite a long time, in that short moment, it all felt alright.


	19. A poor choice

**This chapter started off as a Kion/Taka conversation, before it became Kopa/Taka. I felt like that's what this story needed right now, I hope I made the right choice.**

 **"Let me be surprised", from All dogs go to heaven, was my song of choice while writing Kopa's character, which also happens to be where the inspiration for part of his character in this story came from.**

* * *

When Taka opened his eyes, he was greeted by the darkness and the cold that were typical of the nighttime. He blinked his eyes to adjust, and the very first thing he was Kopa's back on him as the teen lion lay on the end of the den and looked up at the starry sky.

"Kipawa?" Taka asked, standing up.

Kopa's head turned as he looked to the elderly lion, a faint smile on his face; his bright blue eyes dimly shone under the starlight above.

"Hey," He greeted as Taka lay beside him, looking down at his paws and at the savannah bellow, all covered in shadows.

"Isn't it a bit too early to be awake, and a bit too late to be stargazing?" Taka smiled with a sleepy voice.

"Yes, and yes," Kopa nodded, "I couldn't sleep. But I don't mind it, I like the night. Cold, dark, yet so… Calming. It lets me feel alone, without feeling lonely."

Taka nodded before adding, "Must be the great kings of the past… Always watching down on us."

Kopa blinked in surprise, "You know about that too?"

"Why the surprise?", Taka raised an eyebrow, "Your father told you that, and his father told him that, and our father… Our father told Mufasa and I; when we were about your age."

Kopa seemed thoughtful, looking at Taka and then down as he reflected on Taka's words.

"You're… You're Mufasa's brother," He half smiled, "Hum, guess that makes you my great uncle, doesn't it?"

"Hum, couldn't you figure it out by the resemblance?" Taka said sarcastically, and Kopa rolled his eyes.

"It's weird, you know; despite being related, you do look very different," Kopa added, once again realizing things for the first time, "I mean, Kion, Simba, Mufasa and I all look alike, and then… There's you." He said as he looked the lion beside him from head to paw. "Brown, dark-maned, green eyes…"

"And skinny, weak, a scrawny useless shit. Yeah, there's me," Taka heaved. "Makes sense that I'm different. You can't fool nature."

Kopa cocked his head. "Meaning?"

Taka sighed and looked up, before muttering his answer, "You see, the reason why I look so different is because… I'm not exactly… Mufasa's brother."

Kopa's jaw dropped open, "Run that by me again?"

"It's an old family secret," Taka whispered, sly smile on his face, "We had the same father, yeah, but different mothers. I believe you can guess it, but I obviously took after my mother. A spitting image of her, in fact; except for the mane. Oh, how inconvenient that was for Ahadi; imagine that, how to explain a brown cub when all royal family was golden like the sun?"

"Wow, wow, wow," Kopa shook his head in disbelief, "You're only his half-brother? But how-"

"Ugh," Taka grunted, "You all think kings are these perfect, divine-like beings, don't you?" he looked at Kopa full of pity in his eyes, "There's this one thing called cheating; and it's not reserved to the commoners."

Kopa's jaw dropped again, but this time it quickly formed an understanding 'oh'.

"Wait, is that why you're called dirt?"

Taka let out air in a quick excuse for a laugh.

"He made it pretty obvious that he didn't like me, didn't he? The old man didn't even bother to try to hide it. Of course, if you asked him he'd blame my brown dirt-colored fur for the name, it was just to match my feature… Because nobody could know a king despised his own son." He took a paw to his chest and faked surprise.

"Wow," Kopa nodded and raised his eyebrows. "That is a lot to take in."

"Tell me about it…" Taka agreed, "The only ones who knew were Ahadi, Uru, Mufasa, me and of course, my mother… Uhaini."

Kopa opened his mouth in disbelief, "You're kidding me. Your real mother was called _treason_?"

"Or so Ahadi told me," Taka shrugged.

"Well, either he lied or destiny's hand was on point there."

Taka shook his head. "Yeah, he probably lied to me about that. Wouldn't be the first time."

"You mean there's more?"

"Kid," Taka petted Kopa's head, disheveling his mane, "There's so much more that you don't know. I'm going to tell you all about it… Someday."

"Awh, come on!" Kopa pleaded, moving his head away from under Taka's paw, "You can't start a story like that and not finish it! I won't be able to sleep until I know the rest!" He dramatically rolled on his back as if he was in distress.

"You weren't getting much rest before I told you about it either," Taka pushed him so that was back on his stomach and Kopa giggled, "You should try to sleep some before the sun rises."

"Can't," He sighed, "Too much stuff on my mind. And now there's even more, and you won't help me with that," He pouted.

Taka rolled his eyes and laid his head between his paws, "First you answer me, what do you know?"

Kopa raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"I assume Simba told you some things before you… _got lost_."

"Hum, yeah," He nodded.

"Things about me."

"Oh," Kopa looked from side to side, "yeah."

Taka took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he dreaded the answer he knew he'd hear, "What did he tell you?"

His eyes remained closed as Kopa gulped and his heart fluttered in his chest.

"He… Well, he said you had an alliance with the hyenas, and that you… You…" He closed his eyes as well, as if that made it any easier for the words to be spoken, "You killed Mufasa. And then… Tried to kill him as well."

Taka's eyes stung for a second as they got filled with unshed salty tears. He quickly closed them again and the tears rolled down his snout.

"Well, at least he spared me the pain to have to be the one to tell you that," He forced a chuckle and his voice cracked, "Not sure I'd be able to do that."

Kopa looked at Taka and began crying as well. "I… I don't understand."

Their eyes met for a few seconds before they both looked down; seeing the other crying suddenly felt like something too intimate to do, even for them. Their souls were now completely stripped, vulnerable; as they had never been before.

"I wanted to be king," Taka spoke dryly, "What else is there to understand about it?"

"I," Kopa shook his head in disbelief as he sat up, for such was the intensity of the indignation, "I don't understand! You were the second born, not the one meant to be king, what could be better than that? Who'd want to be king?"

Kopa looked at Taka's eyes, waiting for the brown lion to answer.

Instead, Taka's eyes widened with realization, "So that's why you ran away."

Kopa closed his eyes and hissed, hanging his head low; his mane falling over his eyes and covering the tears that ran down his face and dropped on the cold ground.

Taka sat up and wiped his own eyes before moving closer to Kopa and wrapping a paw around him. He felt the younger lion snuggle into his mane briefly before Kopa gave a step back; getting away from Taka's embrace.

"I'm fine," He sighed, "But yes, that is why."

Taka looked at the horizon, "For lions who are related, we're very different."

"Indeed," Kopa nodded, "You don't know how lucky you are."

Taka waited for Kopa to continue instead of adding anything to the conversation. Kopa seemed to notice he expected to hear more.

"When you're first in line, your destiny is already written. Even before you're born, you have it ready for you. As constant as the stars, every night. Tell me, what fun is that? When all said and done, it's fun not to know!" He looked at the horizon as well.

"Look at what a big, beautiful world there is out there. Just waiting for you to go and explore it. Imagine all you can find! But- Not me. I was meant to stay here," he looked back at the Pride Rock, far behind them, "Forever, and always."

"So, you ran away, looking for an adventure."

"Yeah, among other things, but that was my main reason. One of them."

Taka nodded, and they stood in silence for a while.

"You were kind of stupid there," Taka shrugged, and Kopa gasped.

"Excuse me?"

"Tell me," Taka looked at Kopa, "How was living with and taking care of an old lion any more adventurous than being a king to-be?"

Kopa opened his mouth to reply, only to realize he didn't have an answer.

"I rest my case." Taka added.

Kopa frowned, his ears folding back against his head, "Are you saying you'd preferred I had run away as soon as my leg got better, all those years ago?" He sounded sarcastic, but his eyes showed hurt.

"No!" Taka answered, and only after he'd spoken he noticed how desperate he'd sounded. Cleaning his throat, he pretended nothing had happened, "No, of course not. All I'm saying is that, if adventure was what you were looking for, then you made a poor choice there."

Kopa half smiled and shrugged. "Yeah. Guess I did."

Taka nodded, "But you want to know what?"

He waited for Kopa to look at him to answer.

"I'm glad you did." He said with a smile, raising his paw and rubbing his knuckles against Kopa's scalp, "Kipawa."

Kopa laughed and walked a step back to get Taka's paw away from him, before stepping close again and smiling. "Yeah, me too," He nodded, "Asante."


	20. More questions

**Ever since I heard about Scar appearing on The lion guard, I was really curious to see how it'd affect this fic. Of course this is AU and thus it's like the events in the episodes never happened, but it did give me insight on how Taka would be had he not decided to change his heart like he did in this fanfic.**

 **His voice actor doesn't really sound like him, but that's my only complaint – that aside, he did a wonderful job! I really like what they're doing with the show thus far. Can't wait to find out what's going to happen next.**

 **But until then, hope you'll enjoy finding out what's happening next in my fic!**

* * *

Taka blinked his eyes open and stretched his limbs with a yawn. For a few seconds, he was confused as to where he was; but it didn't take long for the memories to dawn upon him once he felt awake enough.

Kopa was nowhere to be found, but that was to be expected. Taka sighed and hoped he was safe, but he knew Kopa would probably return sooner than later with food for the elder lion – his responsibility of taking care of Taka was something he would never neglet. Well, Taka feared he might, but deep inside, he knew that Kopa wouldn't.

"I was hoping I'd wake to find that your return had been a bad dream," He heard someone say and turned around to find Zazu hovering near the entrance of the cave, carefully flying in without ever getting too close to Taka.

Taka shook his head, "Well, isn't that dejavu," He rolled his eyes, "I did miss your warming good mornings, Zazu. What do you want?"

"I'm here to announce king Simba is on his way…"

"Some things never change now, do they?" Taka groaned, interrupting Zazu.

The bird frowned, "And you better be prepared for a serious talk, for he's not happy at all."

"No? What a shame," Taka shrugged, "I was hoping he would share my happiness, can't you see I'm leaping for joy right here?" He responded in a monotone voice.

"Well, I'm certainly not."

Taka and Zazu both looked up to see Simba entering the den, expression serious and position menacing. Zazu immediately did a curtsy, while Taka remained still. It wasn't until the king got closer that Taka felt intimidated and did the same; although reluctantly.

"Good morning, your majesty." Taka said, head still facing the ground.

Simba merely nodded in response and waited for the other lion to sit up again. Once he did, Simba looked around and frowned.

"Where's Kopa?"

Taka blinked, "I have no idea."

Simba's mouth opened in a confused 'o', "What?"

Taka yawned and rubbed his eyes, "He might have gone hunting or something. I just woke up, I haven't seen him today yet. You should try coming back in a few hours, he doesn't usually bring me food until later."

Simba raised an eyebrow, "He brings you food?"

Taka nodded, "In case you haven't noticed, Simba, I've grown older since the last time you saw me."

Simba took a deep breath. That was true, and age hadn't suited Scar all that well. Simba had always remembered him as an old lion, but whose true age wouldn't show. Now there were white patches on his once night-dark mane; his rib bones could be seen through the thin skin on his torso, which was covered in dry fur that had once been bright. The scars on his body gave him an even older appearance.

"I was already old and weak all those years ago. So, you can imagine how things are now," Taka continued, "I can't really hunt by myself. Not anymore."

"So Kopa kept him alive, hum," Zazu said as though Taka wasn't there and flew to Simba's shoulder, "That's a mistake the prince made, alright." He muttered in the king's ear.

"I was hoping to discuss your situation in the kingdom and how you stand by the laws of the Pride Rock, but I believe we'll have to wait until Kopa is back for that, then." Simba nodded and turned around.

Taka thought he'd better keep quiet, but couldn't help himself.

"What is there to discuss, Simba?"

Simba's eyes widened as he came to a halt, slowly turning his head to look back at Taka.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"What do you hope to achieve?" Taka asked, cocking his head to the side. "Do you think there's anything to discuss? I don't want to be here. I want to go back to the place I would have never left if it weren't for Kion."

"If that's your will, by all means, feel free," Zazu smiled slyly and pointed towards the exit of the cave.

"However," Taka ignored him, "I'm not leaving until Kipawa decides what to do."

Simba took a deep breath, not sure if he understood all Taka meant.

"It's not really up to him to decide that." The king pointed out.

Taka let out a weak laugh.

"What's so funny?" Simba asked through clenched teeth.

"You think you're the one who gets to decide what's going to happen?" Taka shook his head and kept on laughing before he took a deep breath, smile on his face.

"Have you forgotten it's the king you're talking to?" Zazu folded his wings, appalled at Taka's lack of respect.

"Well, let's imagine that you were to have it your way, your majesty, I imagine you'd want your son to stay and you'd want me to go away and never return."

"Like it should be. Although I'd rather have you killed instead." Simba nodded.

"But it's not that simple."

Simba stood in silence waiting for Scar to make his point.

"Kipawa doesn't want to stay, Simba."

Simba roared when the anger boiled inside him, Taka crouched down and closed his eyes; regretting his words, but standing by what he'd said.

"You can't know that, Scar."

"It's _Taka_." He muttered, "And yes I can. I've known him for longer than you have, Simba." Taka straightened himself up.

Simba tried to respond, but Taka didn't stop talking.

"He might be loyal but oh my, is he stubborn. I don't think I've ever seen that youngling change his mind once his entire life. You might as well try to convince a rock. He ran away out of his own free will; he didn't want to stay here when he was young, he won't want to stay here now."

Simba took a deep, heavy breath. He was hoping Scar was only taunting him, but his eyes seemed to show that he was telling the truth.

"You don't have to worry about me any longer, for I'm old and have long moved on from the issues you and I had in the past. I'm not a threat. I have no reason to lie to you or to try to turn Kipawa against you," Taka sighed, "But your son, he is not like you think he is. You may try to talk to him and I can even help you convince him to stay if that's your wish. But if that's what you want to happen, you better be aware, he won't stay if I don't."

Simba wondered how in the world Kopa could be attached to Scar. Certainly, the old lion had fed him lies from the day they met. "I don't need, and I don't want your help. I'll speak to Kopa myself when he returns, and we'll sort this out."

"So be it," Taka nodded. "Hey," The older lion looked around, as if to check if they were alone, before he looked at Simba and whispered, "Don't try to tell Kipawa what to do, ok? If you want to convince him of something, you must make him think he's making the decision himself, even if you… lure him a bit. That's the one way to get him to do what you want him to."

Simba stepped back, slightly suspicious of Taka's words.

"Behave, Scar." Simba simply said, showing off his teeth when he did so, before finally turning around and leaving the den and the brown lion behind with Zazu flying by his side.

"It's _Taka_ ," Taka muttered under his breath and shook his head, rolling his eyes and laying down again.

* * *

"And that's what happened," Rafiki concluded the story, looking at the cubs that sat on a circle around him.

"Zuka zama," Bunga exclaimed, "You mean Scar was alive this whole time? As in, the lion that destroyed the previous lion guard and everyone assumed was dead?"

"Yes," Kion nodded, "And so was my brother; the one we thought Zira had killed."

"But I don't understand," Fuli shook her head, "Why did Kopa run away when he was a cub? Why didn't he ever come back to his family?"

"I don't know, Fuli." Kion frowned.

"Well, what if he wanted to come back but got lost?" Beshte suggested.

"No, he knew the way back here, and so did Taka. So much so that they brought me back after they rescued me."

All the animals in the room looked at Kion with a raised eyebrow, except Rafiki.

"Taka?" Ono questioned.

"That is Scar's original name, given to him by king Ahadi, when the prior was still just a cub." Rafiki answered the question before Kion could. "He changed his name when the king marked his face in an attack of anger."

"Wait," Kion shook his head, "You mean to tell me his own father gave him his scar?"

The monkey nodded.

"That's awful!" Beshte commented.

"But why?" Kion asked again.

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer for that, little lion cub," The monkey sighed. "There are some things only the ones involved know; and they wish for it to remain that way. Never once did anyone ever dare to touch the subject again after that faithful night, all those years ago. I was only but an apprentice back then."

"I can't believe he'd do such a thing to his own son." Kion sighed.

"Well, I can't believe that _Scar_ took in an abandoned cub and cared for him with no interest whatsoever. Why would someone like him do that? Simba told us about how awful he was." Fuli jumped up.

"Yeah, he killed king Mufasa!" Bunga added, waving his fist.

"And tried to kill Simba! And he almost succeeded, too." Ono nodded.

"My father told me he destroyed the Pride Lands because he was friends with the hyenas when he was king and they didn't respect the circle of life. You know, the bad ones, not the good ones like Jasiri. He said that the hippos had to migrate for a while, because there was no more water here." Beshte looked down.

Kion frowned and bit his lower lip. "Guys, calm down. I know all of that, but… He also saved me. He had no idea who I was, and he saved me. He and Kip- Kopa, they took me in. I could be dead now, but they saved me."

Fuli raised an eyebrow. "Kion, are you defending Scar?"

"No!" Kion jumped, defensive, "I'm not saying that any of what he did was right, because it was not! But he did save me. Twice, because he saved me from the fire as well. He could have died, but he did it anyway. And he also saved and raised Kopa. I know this sounds crazy, but when I was there with them, before I knew he was Scar… He didn't seem to be that bad."

Everyone stood in silence for a while.

"How hard did you hit your head when the river dragged you away?" Ono tilted his head.

"Guys," Kion groaned and rolled his eyes. He knew what he was saying must have sounded absurd, but he couldn't get himself to believe Taka really was Scar. "I'm just saying that he could be a changed lion now."

"He just might be, Kion." Rafiki smiled and fidgeted with his staff. "Who knows what happened with Taka when he was far away for all those years."

Fuli observed the monkey carefully. "You don't really think he's a good guy now, do you?"

"I wouldn't bet my bugs on that," Bunga crossed his arms and pouted.

"I don't know what he is, but he's certainly had some actions that don't fit a bad guy, don't you think?" He said and looked at Kion, who nodded in return, for he agreed.

"You guys are insane!" Fuli shook her head, "I'm not letting my guard down, not after all Scar's done. And I don't think any of you should. I just hope Simba doesn't buy into this madness. Ugh. I'll go do some hunting. Be careful you all. I know I will!"

The cheetah then ran to get out of the den before Kion could stop her to debate her ideas. The lion cub rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Well, I guess there isn't anything we can do for now but be careful." Bunga sighed.

"Very careful." Ono nodded.

"Yeah, at least until a decision is made." Kion sighed as well and then smiled, "Thanks for telling us the story, Rafiki."

The monkey nodded and then Kion turned around, leaving the guard's den.

"Hey, where are you going?" Beshte asked Kion when he reached the entrance.

"Talk to my uncle," He said before leaving quickly, leaving those behind him with their mouths open in shock.

"Kion, that's the opposite of careful!" Ono opened his wings.

"Fuli is right, they have all gone insane!" Bunga took his hands to his head.

Rafiki kept fidgeting with his staff as if nothing was happening around him.

* * *

Kion entered Scar's den in quick steps, hoping not to be noticed. He looked around and it seemed to be empty, but suddenly a shadow hung over him from behind and he screamed in a jump, startled, when he turned around and saw Taka standing there.

"Taka!" He exclaimed with a sigh, "You startled me!"

"Forgive me, your highness," Taka smiled softly as he walked past Kion, his tail brushing off the cub's muzzle and making him sneeze.

Kion frowned and followed him inside. "I need to talk to you."

"Oh goodie, another royal lecture. That's the second today. Aren't I lucky," Taka looked up and sighed.

Kion blinked. "What?"

"Never mind," Taka waved his paw to dismiss the topic, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Hum, Rafiki told us a few things about you and Mufasa and my dad."

Taka closed his eyes and hissed, for he knew the kind of questions that would be made about that subject. "Of course, he did; that stupid monkey."

"Is it true your father was the one that gave you your scar?" He asked quickly, not being able to hold back.

Taka bit his tongue in shock, for he didn't expect that question among all the ones he thought Kion would have, "What?"

"Rafiki said king Ahadi was the one who gave you your scar, but he couldn't tell us why he'd do that to you, and I don't understand-"

"Kiddo," Taka rubbed his tongue with his paw and shook his head, "You should know better than to trust an old monkey. His brain is not as good as it was all those years ago, back when it happened. I got this scar from a buffalo when I tried to hunt for the first time."

Kion sat in silence. He had seen sincerity in Taka's eyes when he had rescued him, but now he couldn't see it. Instead, he saw something else.

"You're lying."

Taka looked from side to side. "No, I'm-"

"Kopa told me you never disclosed the story behind any of your scars to him," Kion told Taka, "And if you haven't even told him, you wouldn't tell me just like that. Or you'd just have told him that story if it were true."

Taka was impressed at the cub's perception, but didn't let that show.

"Fine, I guess there is no use in lying to you."

Kion smiled.

"But there is no use in dwelling in the past either."

Kion frowned, "What?"

"How I got this scar, or any of the others, it doesn't matter. It's in the past now."

"My dad always says that the past is important. You can't run away from it, because it always comes back to you."

"Well, if by past coming back you mean an annoyingly insistent lion cub, I guess he's right," Taka said and glared at Kion, hoping to make the cub self-conscious, but Kion did not back off.

"Listen, Taka, I already know that you killed Mufasa, and tried to kill my dad, and so much more." Kion said, ears folded back, "Actually, my father even told me not to talk to you, because you could be dangerous."

"Then why are you here?" Taka questioned.

"Because I don't believe that." He looked up at Taka with pleading eyes.

Taka couldn't help but be touched, yet amused with the cub's innocence.

"Kion, you know father knows best."

"Doesn't mean father's always right." Kion said and immediately felt weak on the stomach, as if he was doing something wrong by saying that; "You saved me, and you saved Kopa. You wouldn't do that if you were evil. You could have just let both of us die. For all you knew we were just random cubs."

Taka's eyes began shining with unshed tears.

"What do you even hope to achieve with this conversation, Kion?" He asked, turning his head to the side so that Kion didn't see his expression.

Kion opened his mouth but words didn't come out. He realized he didn't know the answer to that.

"I have no idea. I guess… I guess I just, I can't believe that Taka, the kind lion who took me in and raised my brother, is the same lion as Scar, the lion I was always taught to hate. I thought Scar was pure evil but… That's not you."

"Kion," Taka sighed and stood up, "Nobody is fully evil or fully good. Both live inside each one of us, and you choose which side you choose to follow. All those years ago, I let hatred take over me and I let it trace my path; and for that I'm the only one to blame. I may have chosen to listen to the good side now, or at least I try to, but that doesn't mean I'm not still the one who did all those things. It doesn't mean you should hate me any less than you were taught to."

Kion frowned. "I can't hate the one who saved me."

"You can if he's the one that killed your grandfather," Taka told him before he reached out and ruffled Kion's mane. "Listen, those are things you shouldn't even be worrying about. Your father is the king, he will sort this out with me and Kipawa. You're a kid, go play with your friends."

Taka began walking away and Kion fixed his mane before he jogged to get by his side. "Just because I don't have to worry doesn't mean I don't worry about it still. You're part of the family; you two are. You're my uncle, and Kopa's my brother."

"Kion, blood doesn't mean anything. Blood ties didn't keep me from murdering my brother, or trying to kill your father. Blood ties don't define who I am to you, my actions do. Or at least my actions should, if you bothered to listen to reason."

"Exactly! Your actions of saving me and my brother define you to me. Those were good actions you had."

"I was talking about the evil ones." Taka squinted.

"Nobody is fully evil or fully good." Kion quoted Taka's words and Taka's mouth went agape at how witty that cub was proving to be.

"Boy, you, Simba and Kipawa really are related." He rolled his eyes at the memories of a much younger Kopa, when he would be as insistent as Kion was being on that moment; just like Simba when he was a cub.

Kion smiled when he realized Taka didn't refute his argument.

"Tell you what," Taka said, "Once your father makes his decision, I'll tell you my story. All of it. Whether he decides I should leave or stay, I'll do that; and if he wants me to leave, I'll do so when the story is done."

"Really?" Kion jumped up, eyes sparkling.

"Really." Taka nodded and sighed, knowing he'd regret that later, but hoping it'd be enough to make the cub leave him alone.

"Thank you!" Kion said and rushed to Taka, hugging his leg. Taka froze in place and looked from side to side before cleaning his throat and softly pushing the cub away, uncomfortable with the cub's affection.

"Hum, yeah," He said when Kion let him go. "Now go, before your father sees you here and you get into trouble."

"I guess I should," Kion nodded, smile still on his face. "Thank you again, Taka. Asante!" He smiled widely before he ran out, finally leaving Taka alone.

Taka rolled his eyes and sighed, feeling somewhat exhausted.

"Save that lion cub, I said," He muttered to himself, "It's the right thing to do, I said. Ugh."

* * *

 **Sorry for another dialog-lead chapter, I feel like those can be boring, but it is necessary before the story can move any further. That's why this chapter is a bit longer, I want to get the talking parts over with as soon as possible.**

 **I recently took some writing lessons and that's why I hadn't written in a while. That, alongside the reviews, made me rethink this story and how I've been writing it. Hopefully it'll be better now, let me know what you think!**

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!**


	21. Hyenas and fights

Kopa took a slow and deep breath as he lowered himself among the grass, hoping he'd be successful now. It was his third attempt to hunt in that morning alone and his stomach was beginning to hurt in hunger. It was almost lunch time and he hadn't even caught his breakfast yet.

Not that he wasn't a good hunter, for he was one of the best. However, one of the keys to a good hunt is to know the ground you're walking on. And well, Kopa knew the Pride Lands - he'd grown up there, after all - but he hadn't been there in such a long time that his memory was failing him when he needed it most.

He might remember the cliffs and paths, but he didn't remember the small details. He didn't remember where there were small rocks, where the wind blew the strongest, where the grass' color matched his fur's the best – all details that he'd forgotten about and that had alerted all of his prey so far.

That time, however, his luck seemed to be about to change.

Zebras weren't that hard to hunt as they weren't that smart and hardly paid attention to their surroundings, but he still needed to be careful not to be heard. Kopa smiled to himself as he moved his shoulder blades up and down, focusing on the smallest one of the herd. They were close, that could be easy. His front legs lowered and his back went up, his muscles stiffening as he prepared to jump on the stripped horses and get his meal at last – that is, he would, had he not stepped on the dry grass behind him and caused a loud crackling sound.

"Ugh, come on!" Kopa grunted when the zebras began running away after seeing him. He jumped ahead and gave one step forward before his stomach grumbled and he thought it wasn't worth it; he was too hungry for a chase like that. Zebras might be dumb, but boy were they fast.

Kopa rolled his eyes and laid down on the grass to get some rest, the failed hunts were taking a toll on him. But he had no time to rest - Taka had probably woken up by then, and he was probably just as hungry as Kopa was. He couldn't let him down.

He turned his head and looked at the Pride Rock. His heart fluttered and his breath caught in his throat when he thought of Taka. Was it safe to leave him there alone with Simba? He jumped up and gave a few steps towards the Pride Rock, but stopped and bit his lower lip. Checking on Taka would take too long and it'd worsen his hunger; he needed to get them some food before he could go back.

 _But if anyone lays a paw on him…_

Kopa bared his teeth at the thought before turning around to try to find something to hunt again. The sooner he got that over with, the sooner he'd be able to go back to Asante, and the sooner they'd be able to go back home.

That's what he hoped for.

* * *

Hunting always made Fuli feel better, no matter how down or mad she was. There was something about chasing her prey as fast as she could that made her feel powerful, and then she got to satiate her hunger with her effort – it made her extremely satisfied.

She lowered her body among the yellow grass that hid her best, sticking her tongue out to check the wind's direction and making sure she stood in the right place to disguise her scent from the gazelles she had been tracking. Just before she could position herself to jump on her prey, however, her nose picked up a strange scent behind her.

 _What's that?_

Fuli poked her head out of the grass just enough to look behind her so that she could see what that smell was, but all she could see was grass. She inhaled sharply again, and the scent seemed to become clearer.

It was that of a lion.

"Kion? Is that you?" She whispered.

"Ow, my claw!" A high-pitched scream ripped through the air behind her; which startled Fuli and sent the gazelle running away.

"No!" Kiara screamed in frustration as she jumped out of the grass right behind Fuli and attempted to chase the running gazelle, but she didn't see the cheetah standing there and ran towards her instead.

They both let out a yell right before they collided, rolling on top of each other for a few meters before they fell, Kiara on top of Fuli.

"Ouch…" Fuli groaned, slightly dizzy.

"No, no, no, no!" Kiara exclaimed as she jumped off the cheetah and watched the gazelles getting too far for them to have a chance of catching up, "Ugh, we almost had them!" She stomped her paws.

"You don't say," Fuli shook her head and stood up, and only then Kiara seemed to have noticed the cheetah and realized what she'd done.

"Oh, hi, Fuli," The princess sighed, "Sorry we ruined your hunt, I didn't even see you there."

"Well, I guess that means that at least my camouflage worked." Fuli sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Kiara!"

Fuli and Kiara looked back at the tall grass to see Tiifu and Zuri approaching them; the latter walked only with three paws as she held one of them up, for it had a broken claw.

"You ok, Zuri?" Kiara walked around Fuli and approached her friends.

"What do you think? I broke a claw," Zuri whined.

"A broken claw?" Fuli scoffed, "You ruined _my hunt_ over a _broken claw_?" She groaned, "Unbelievable!"

"Excuse me?" Zuri scoffed as well, "You think this is a joke? I broke a claw!"

"Girls," Kiara sighed, "There's no use in fighting now. All we can do is keep trying. I'm sure we'll manage to hunt something."

"I guess," Fuli rolled her eyes, "But I'm actually hunting here, so I'd appreciate if you girls could go practice somewhere else."

"What?" Kiara raised an eyebrow, but then mouthed an 'o' when she remembered how things had been last time Fuli hunted with them. "Oh, no Fuli, this time we're hunting to get food, it's not just practice. Mom thinks I'm ready to start hunting my own food!" She smiled proudly.

"That's right, Kiara is almost ready to be a queen, and she'll be awesome at it!" Tiifu nodded proudly.

"I'm sure I still have a lot to learn, Tiifu, but thank you." Kiara smiled, then turned her attention back to Fuli, "The girls and I were trying to form our own hunting-party, since lionesses hunt in groups. Do you want to join us?"

"Hum," Fuli remained thoughtful, "You're sure you're going to hunt for real this time around, right?"

Kiara chuckled, "Yep."

Fuli smiled, "Fine, I guess it won't hurt to get some help. Might be fun not to hunt alone for once. But only if you two stay quiet so that you don't ruin it again!" She glared at Kiara's friends before she turned around and began walking away, Kiara following her and motioning for the other cubs to follow them as well.

"Ruin it? Us?" Zuri gasped, appalled.

"Who does that cheetah think she is? Talking to the future queen's hunting-party like that!"

"Come on, girls, just be quiet this time, ok?" Kiara chuckled.

"Humph, fine," Zuri nodded, "But let's see how quiet you'll be when it's your claw getting broken!"

* * *

Kion felt like he needed some time to himself to clear his mind after all that had been happening in those past days. It was crazy how his life had been turned upside down so quickly – in less than a day, everything he knew (or thought he knew) changed completely.

After he left Taka's den, he looked around to make sure nobody had seen him leave and then he ran off. A few animals greeted him as he walked by them, but he was too busy focusing on his problems to greet any of them back; so, he just kept going, leaving puzzled animals behind.

After a while, he got to the hill where he'd always go to whenever he needed some answers. It was the best place to talk to the only one who never let him down.

"Grandfather Mufasa?"

A beam of light shone through the clouds before the image of the past king appeared on them and Kion smiled. No matter how troubled his mind might be, he always got happy in the presence of Mufasa.

"You called, Kion?"

"Sure did, grandpa," Kion sighed as he sat down, "I really, really need your help now."

Mufasa nodded, "You want to ask me about my brother, I assume?"

Kion nodded back, "So you know what's happened?"

"I watch over the Pride Lands all the time, Kion. And I watch over my family; all of it. My brother included."

"Wait," Kion tilted his head to the side, "Does that mean you knew that Taka was alive all along?"

Mufasa nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" Kion jumped up, frowning at his grandfather.

Mufasa shook his head, "Kion, I can't interfere with the circle of life, because I no longer belong with the living. I can help you along your way, but you must find that way yourself."

Kion took a deep breath, still frowny, but nodded in understanding. "I know, I know. Sometimes I just really wish you could just tell me what I should do, you know? How can I find my way if I don't even know which path to follow?"

Mufasa gave a sweet smile, "Kion, when you became leader of the lion guard, did you ever imagine any of the things that happened to you would happen?"

Kion giggled, "Not in a million years! I never would have guessed I'd become leader of the lion guard in the first place. If someone had told me I'd run into a lost brother and my thought-to-be-dead uncle, I'd send them to Rafiki to get their heads checked!"

Mufasa smiled, "That's the circle of life, Kion. We can plan some things, but destiny's hand is always there with us. And sometimes, it can take us to crazy paths. We don't always know what's going to happen."

"Tell me about it," Kion sighed. "Well, I was still hoping you could help me some, grandpa."

"If it's within my means, I will," Mufasa told him, the wind blowing around Kion as if to give him a hug and the cub smiled. "I imagine you must have quite a lot of questions."

"Yep, that I do, but I don't think Taka is exactly willing to answer them right now. I just think that knowing some things would give me the insight I need to help my dad figure out the best way to deal with Taka and Kopa being here in the Pride Lands once again."

"Of course, I'm sure it has nothing to do with your curiosity, right, little lion cub?" Mufasa smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that too," Kion smirked.

Mufasa laughed, "In that case, what is it you wish to know?"

Kion looked up, thoughtful, "Well, how did Taka survive? My father told me he had been murdered by his hyenas the night dad took the throne back, and he seemed to be so sure about that."

Mufasa looked up as well and then he nodded, "Alright, I see no harm in telling you that."

Mufasa's face then faded in a cloudy swirl, giving place to a blurred image up on the clouds. Kion watched it in amazement, his jaw dropping. As it became less blurry he recognized the Pride Rock and Taka, undoubtedly years young and without most of his scars, as the pride burned around him in the flashback.

 _Friends? I thought he said we were the enemy_ , a raspy laughing voice echoed in the sky. Kion paid fierce attention to what he saw when the flashback changed to a trio of hyenas laughing.

"Who are those? They look familiar," Kion tilted his head and squinted his eyes.

 _Let me explain, no, you don't understand-_ The flashback changed back to Taka, depicting him as he desperately tried to back away from the approaching hyenas around him, but got trapped because of the rock behind him.

Kion gasped as several hyenas jumped on Taka in a savage attack.

"No!", The cub yelled and shook his head. He knew what he saw wasn't really happening, but he couldn't help himself. His eyes teared up at the sight of Taka getting bitten and thrown down; his screams were painful and high, ripping through the air as if it were happening right there and then. He could even hear bites and scratches as the fight happened, flesh tearing and ripping as the scene quickly became blood-flooded.

Kion understood why Simba was so sure Taka had been killed off that night – he'd never think that anyone could survive an attack like that. However, it was when rain came down; heavy and sudden. The dry ground Taka and the hyenas fought on quickly became slippery mud and the attack lost much of its strength as the hyenas lost their balance. Taka clearly used it to his advantage, kicking the hyenas away and using the sloppy mud that now surrounded him to slip free from the hyenas' teeth and claws.

Most of the hyenas ran off right away, but the three of them Kion had seen first chased Taka in the rain as he tried to escape. Kion squinted again, why did they look so familiar?

Kion's heart went all the way up his throat when Taka stopped running. He'd gotten to the edge of a cliff; when the flashback changed its focus Kion realized it was a river that had dried out. Taka gasped, left with nowhere to run to and the three hyenas were still after him, getting closer by the second. If he stayed there, they'd surely kill him.

Taka looked back at the hyenas and, without any other choice, jumped ahead into the empty river. The hyenas stopped in their tracks when they got to the edge as well and looked down, all of them incredulous. The hole Taka had thrown himself in was deep; animal bones, fallen trees and thick mud were all being dragged together at the bottom with an incredible force by the water as the rain kept falling.

 _Do you see him?_ One of the male hyenas asked as the three of them looked down.

 _Are you kidding me? That flow surely dragged him out of the Pride Lands by now. There's no way he survived that, he's insane! Ugh, he got what he deserved, but I wanted to kill that traitor myself!_

Kion watched as the hyenas groaned and turned around, leaving the Pride Lands at last.

"Wow," Kion breathed out. He still didn't know how he'd managed to survive being dragged by the river he'd been dragged by, he couldn't imagine how much it must have hurt for Taka to be dragged by that flow – it was certainly much thicker and stronger than the one Kion had to endure.

The flashback changed focus again. Now, it depicted a calmer scenario, not far from the Pride Lands. He could see a fallen tree was halfway into a river and halfway on the ground, the sun had begun to rise and it all seemed peaceful enough – until a paw emerged from the river and held onto the dead trunk. Taka's head emerged soon after as he gasped for air, kicking the water and trying to hold onto the trunk with all his strength. It took him a fair amount of tries before he managed to drag himself out of the river.

He gave a few shaky steps ahead once he was out, wheezing and gasping, water dropping from his mane and fur. His ear that had been shredded by the hyenas began bleeding when he got out of the water as it hadn't scarred yet. Taka then coughed out a huge chunk of water that had gotten stuck in his throat and panted. His knees gave in and he fell with a wet thud. He looked defeated, but nevertheless, still alive.

The flashback became blurry, then it swirled and Mufasa's face replaced it once more. He had a serious expression and looked down at an appalled Kion.

"Taka's time was not yet due, Kion," Mufasa sighed, "Although I can tell that the pain he felt made him wish it was."

"I, I totally imagine so," Kion realized he was out of breath. His mind wandered back to the questions he still had, "Why did those hyenas look familiar? The ones that were chasing him? I don't think I've seen them before."

"Oh, those three?" Mufasa raised an eyebrow, "Those were Shenzi, her brother, Edd, and her, hum, husband, Banzai. Not long after what I showed you happened, Shenzi birthed their cub, which they'd name… Janja."

"No way!" Kion gasped, "Taka's minions are Janja's parents?"

"Janja took his place as leader of the hyenas, following his mother's steps. She was the previous leader, for she was the smartest."

"I guess Janja took after his father there then," Kion muttered, "I, I can't believe Taka survived that."

"Honestly, me neither. When it happened, I was ready to receive him here with me, for I thought his time with the living was due as well. But like I told you, we can never guess what destiny has planned."

Kion bit his lower lip. "Does destiny have a reason?"

Mufasa blinked and tilted his head, "Whatever do you mean, Kion?"

"It just, as much as I know what happened, I can't seem to figure out why any of it happened the way it did." He began pacing back and forth as he thought, "Why did Taka survive? He had no reason to."

"You sure about that?" Mufasa raised an eyebrow.

Kion looked up at him and made a similar expression, "What do you mean, grandpa?"

"Well, Kion, I know a certain lion cub who wouldn't have survived if Taka hadn't."

Before Kion could make sense of what Mufasa had told him, another flashback began. This time, however, it depicted a small lion cub – who looked uncannily like Kion – crying all alone in the dark; his paw twisted in an impossible angle.

"Who's that?" Kion asked, but then he realized, "Is that Kopa?"

He watched in silence as Taka came into view in the flashback, sharing a few words with Kopa before he grabbed him and took him away.

"I, I don't get it still," Kion sighed, "How did Kopa end up all the way there? And why did Taka save him, if he was evil enough to kill you? Taka didn't have to survive to save Kopa if Kopa had stayed here, why did he run away?"

The flashback then showed Taka carrying Kopa into his cave, and once they got there, the flashback ended. This time, however, Mufasa didn't return; only the clouds and silence looked down at Kion now.

"Grandpa?"

Nothing changed.

Kion hung his head with a sigh, "I guess those are the answers you can't give me, right?"

Nothing changed still.

"Well, I guess those are the things I need to figure out on my own then." He stood up and looked up at where Mufasa was a few moments before, "Thank you, grandpa! I'll come talk to you again soon!"

And with that, Kion turned around and ran towards the Pride Rock. When he was far enough, Mufasa reappeared on the sky and watched his grandson running away.

"Good luck, Kion," He nodded, and then, disappeared again.

* * *

 **Bet you all thought Fuli was going to run into Kopa, hum?**

 **Gosh, Zuri and Tiifu are really annoying to write, but I wanted to have them here anyway.**

 **Some context: in my headcannon, Edd is Shenzi's brother and that's the only reason why she keeps him around when he's so stupid; while Banzai is her mate. Janja is the son of Shenzi and Banzai; which is why he is the leader of the hyenas. For those of you who don't know, when TLG first aired the official website described Janja as a teen. I imagine that means he's not much older than Kion, so he was born not long after Kopa. I believe his parents had him after they were exiled when Simba became king (Again, this is all my headcannon). Considering how Janja knew about TLG and Scar before anyone else told him, I imagine it was his parents who told him that, after all, they'd know about Scar's past. It just makes sense to me, but then again, nothing of this is cannon, so bear with me -shrugs-**

 **We begin to see the past now. Would you guys like some slice of life flashbacks depcting Taka and Kopa's relationship after Taka rescued him and raised him? Those wouldn't really have much to do with the current plot, but I thought that could be interesting to deepen their characters - or maybe I could write some one-shots as a separate spin-off series, but that depends if that's something you guys would like to see. Let me know your thoughts!**

 **Huge thanks to all the reviews, favorites and follows! You guys are awesome! See yah next chapter, hope you enjoyed!**


	22. Special mission

**_Soundtrack: World falls away - Seether_**

 **That song is officially Kopa and Simba's soundtrack in this fanfic now. I listened to it while writing this and realized it fits the relationship they have in this quite well. If this was a movie that'd be their song, lol.**

* * *

Kopa looked around himself carefully before every single step he took, no matter how small it was. It was now his fourth time trying to hunt something, and if it took him any longer to eat, his grumbling stomach would be enough to alert any prey he might try to track.

He held his breath and froze in place when one of the gazelles he was trying to hunt looked in his direction, his heart beating with a thud. Luckily, the animal just went back to eating as it hadn't seen anything. Kopa sighed in relief and thanked the kings of the past for the good hiding spot he'd found; he still had a chance.

The wind was blowing just in the right direction and the grass was almost the same color as his fur – this time, it was going to work; it had to. He took a deep breath and prepared himself once more.

Front paws lowered, back arched up.

* * *

Kiara and Fuli crouched down among the grass side by side, their shoulder blades moving up and down almost in synch.

"We're lucky the gazelles didn't run for too long," Kiara whispered for the cheetah while they crawled closer to the herd that had calmed down and was now once again eating peacefully, without suspecting any danger. Fuli nodded in return, looking back at Kiara's friends who followed them closely behind.

They got to the very edge of the tall grass and stopped there, carefully watching the gazelles ahead.

"That one seems to be the easiest to catch," Fuli nodded toward the gazelle that was the closest to them, "Not so sure about getting it down though. It looks old and weak, but it's rather big. We are just cubs, after all."

"That's why lionesses hunt in groups," Tiifu informed Fuli as she crawled besides the cheetah and smiled proudly, "Kiara chases it and catches it first, we join in and then we take it down together."

"Exactly," Kiara nodded, "Think you can help them with that, Fuli?"

The cheetah nodded.

"Okay! You girls remember my mom's lessons, right?" The princess asked her friends, "Aim for the neck, and don't take too long after I get it so that it doesn't escape."

"You got it," Zuri nodded, "Let's do this!" She whispered rather loudly and jumped up, and the other three girls hushed her disapprovingly. She smiled apologetically before she crouched back down among the grass.

"Okay, I'll go on three, and once I manage to jump on it, you guys join in," Kiara said as she looked to her hunting party for confirmation, "Ready?"

They all nodded in agreement.

"Alright then," Her back arched up and she folded her front paws for support, "One, two, t-"

However, just before Kiara could finish counting, a huge shadow flew above them and the ground shook beneath their paws once someone landed right in front of them and ran off. They closed their eyes and coughed as dust was thrown on their faces and the gazelles began running away, the ground shaking even harder as they did so.

"Oh, come on!" Fuli groaned, rubbing her eyes clean off the dust, "What now?"

"What happened?" Tiifu asked, poking her head out of the tall grass and looking to where the gazelles had run off to. She squinted and then gasped in surprise, "Someone else is chasing them!"

"What? Who else is hunting here in the Pride Lands? Is it Nala?" Zuri squinted as well.

"No, my mom wouldn't hunt when she knows we're trying to do it." Kiara raised an eyebrow. "Who could it be?"

They tried to see who it was, but the dust flying up got in the way. All they saw were the shadows of the hunter and the gazelles running ahead.

"Ugh, who cares who it is? Our hunt is ruined- _again_ ," Fuli glared angrily at Zuri, but the lioness was too focused on the hunt going on ahead to pay attention to the cheetah.

They all jumped, startled, when a loud thud ripped through the air and a gazelle let out a desperate cry. The cubs jumped out of the grass to get a better view and saw that whoever was hunting there had managed to be successful; one of the gazelles was down as the rest of the herd ran away, disappearing in the horizon.

"It… It looks like a lion," Kiara raised an eyebrow and crouched again to hide. She got worried, for she couldn't seem to recognize who that was. "I hope it's not an outlander invading."

The cubs watched as the lion and the gazelle fought bravely, but the gazelle was no match for the hunter. It wasn't long until it hit the ground and couldn't stand back up; and its screams ceased as the hunter managed to bite its jaw and twist its neck until it quickly broke with a loud crack, blood spilling out and staining the ground red.

"Wow," Tiifu breathed out once the scene in front of them quieted down and they could finally see the lion clearly, "Who is that?"

"I don't know," Zuri batted her eyes dreamingly, "But he's _beautiful_!"

"Ugh, Zuri," Fuli shook her head, "Who cares? That's a strange lion, that could mean trouble!"

Kiara's eyes widened once she recognized who it was and she sighed heavily in a mix of relief and sadness, "Don't worry girls, he's not dangerous."

"Kiara, you know him?" Tiifu asked, but she got ignored by the princess as she walked away from them and approached the male lion and his dead prey. Tiifu, Zuri and Fuli exchanged confused glances before they followed her; but stayed behind the princess always.

"Rest in peace, for you've completed your role in the circle of life," Kopa whispered his prays as he folded his ears back and closed his eyes for a few seconds like he always did when he killed someone to feed himself. He got off the corpse and was about to bite it when he heard steps behind him.

Kopa immediately got in an attack position and bared his teeth with a growl as he turned around. Zuri, Tiifu and Fuli all jumped back and yelled in fear, but Kiara remained weirdly calm and just kept walking toward the male lion.

"Kiara, watch out!" Fuli cried out and got ready to protect the princess, but got taken aback when the lion calmed down as he saw Kiara.

"Oh, hum, hey, Kiara," He said, forcing a smile.

"Hey," She smiled back, "Nice job with the hunt."

Fuli, Zuri and Tiifu exchanged surprised glances, hoping that one of them would know what was going on but realizing that they were all just as confused. It didn't seem to be dangerous to approach the lion, however, and so they did.

It was only then that Kopa saw the other cubs.

"Oh, hey, uh, girls. I suppose you're Kiara's friends?"

"Yes, we are!" Zuri jumped ahead and approached Kopa before the other ones could say anything. She walked around him, biting her lip and admiring him from head to paw, "My name is Zuri, but you can call me whatever you like." She sighed with a smile.

Fuli covered her face with her paw in second hand embarrassment.

"Uh, okay." Kopa said as he gave a step back and raised an eyebrow at the flirtatious cub, "Pleasured to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine," Zuri sighed dreamingly again.

"Okay, is anyone going to explain what's happening here?" Fuli approached Kopa and raised an eyebrow, still being careful not to get too close to the stranger who'd ruined her hunt a second time.

Kopa blinked in surprise. "A cheetah with lionesses? That's one I haven't heard before."

"Oh, this is Fuli, she's Kion's friend," Kiara introduced her, looking back and forth between the cheetah and her brother, "She was helping us hunt."

"Helping you-" Kopa looked back at the defeated gazelle and nodded, "Oh, you guys were trying to hunt one of these, weren't you?"

"Kind of, yeah, until you ruined it." Fuli groaned and got glared at by Zuri.

"We were," Kiara said before Kopa could reply the cheetah, "But you were faster than us there."

"That was amazing, by the way!" Tiifu joined the conversation, accidentally sounding a bit too cheerful, and then she cleaned her throat when she realized it, "I mean, you hunt pretty well, for a male. Oh, no offense, it's just that we lionesses tend to be better at that, you know. But you're good too, I guess."

"Uh, thank you," Kopa smiled awkwardly. "Sorry to ruin your hunt still. But you girls can have part of it if you'd like."

"I'd love to!" Zuri jumped in closer to Kopa again, causing him to give another step back so that the distance between them remained the same.

"You sure?" Kiara asked with a frown, "We can still hunt our own."

"Yeah, you're good," Kopa nodded, "I'm sure there's plenty enough here for all of you. I need to go back to the Pride Lands and take some to Asante anyway, so this would be left to the vultures."

"Oh, right," Kiara nodded, "Well, thank you, Kopa. I sure could use some food right now."

Fuli's ears perked up and she approached the lion in shock, "Kopa?"

"Oh, yeah, that's me. Hi, hum, Fuli, right? Kion told me a lot about you." He looked from side to side, slightly admiring the mark on the cheetah's leg with a glance of jealousy.

"He… he told me a lot about you, too." Fuli stepped back, "He said you're Scar's friend."

Tiifu raised an eyebrow, "He's what?"

"Don't be silly, Fuli," Zuri rolled her eyes, "How could he possibly be friends with Scar if Scar is dead?"

Kopa's eyebrows knitted together at the cheetah, for he didn't like how disgusted she sounded when she said Scar's name.

"His name is _Taka_ ," He corrected her, voice suddenly much lower than before with his mood changing just as fast. "And no, I'm not friends with him – he's my family. Now if you excuse me, I have to go back with food for him."

In not much longer than a second, Kopa turned around again and ripped off a huge chunk of the gazelle's corpse with his teeth and claws as if its flesh were paper thin. The girls jumped back in slight disgust and shock as he ran off with the bloody meal, leaving a trail of red behind him.

"Uh, what happened?" Tiifu asked.

"Was it something I said?" Zuri gasped, breathing on her paw and then smelling it, "Is it my breath?"

"Kopa!" Kiara cried out, "Wait, please…"

Her ears folded back and she sat down with a sigh and she watched as Kopa left, getting further and further away from them until he disappeared in the horizon.

"What's wrong with him?" Fuli asked, "I thought Kion was crazy for saying Scar wasn't that bad, but helping him out by taking him food… That is even worse!"

"Uh," Zuri and Tiifu exchanged glances, "Is anyone going to tell us who was that? And hum, isn't Scar dead?"

"That's… That's a long story," Kiara turned to them with a sigh. "I need to start from the beginning if I'm going to tell you about it."

"Well, all we had to do was hunt, and that's taken care of," Zuri nodded toward their meal lying beside them, "So I suppose we do have time to hear that. Even better if we do so over a meal."

After Tiifu nodded, Kiara sat down and began talking; Fuli being the one who paid most attention to the princess's words.

* * *

Kovu looked around as he tip-toed back into the Outlands. Hiding behind a rock he looked around, and surely enough, his mother hadn't returned yet. He sighed in relief and smiled.

"Back already, little bro?"

Kovu yelped and jumped up in shock when the voice spoke, for he could have sworn he was alone. A laughter then filled the air and he followed it, finally spotting the one who'd spoken to him.

"Vitani," He stomped his paw but sighed a bit in relief to see it was just his sister, "You startled me!"

"I know, you should have seen your face!" Vitani kept on laughing as she jumped down from the rock she was on to meet Kovu on the ground.

"Hahaha, very funny," He growled at her, but then gulped, "What are you doing here so early? Is mother back too?"

"No, she's still out trying to find food, so you're good." She answered, "She sent me back on my own – I have a special mission today. I'm going to the Pride Lands! Do you want to come with me?" She wiggled her eyebrows at her brother, "Maybe we'll run into your girlfriend-"

"She's _not_ my girlfriend!" He spat at her and blushed lightly, but she only laughed in return. He frowned at her and whispered, "And I, I already tried meeting her today, okay? But she was talking with her friends. I waited to see if they would go away so that I could talk to Kiara alone, but they wouldn't shut up!"

"Oh, you mean the two lion cubs she's always with?" Vitani rolled her eyes, "Yeah, those two never do shut up. Ugh. So, today you didn't get to talk to Kiara then-"

Kovu hushed her before she could finish her sentence, "Quiet! If Nuka hears about this, he'll never let me go see her again!"

"Right," Vitani began whispering and looked around, "Where is he, anyway?"

"I have no idea. He's going to be back sooner or later and pretend he took care of me like mom told him to do, like always," Kovu rolled his eyes, "But he could still be close, so hush!"

Vitani giggled, "Don't worry Kovu, I won't let anyone find out about our little secret." She winked at him.

Kovu frowned at her, but then sighed in relief and half-smiled, "Thanks, Vitani." He looked around nervously and tried to change the subject, "Uh, you said you had a special mission?"

Vitani nodded proudly, "You see, some lionesses heard the vultures say that they spotted two new lions in the Pride Lands, while they were checking the area after a fire went out to see if they could find any deceased animals to feed on," She leaned in closer to Kovu, as if to tell him a secret, "One of them said that Simba was pretty mad at them afterwards. They almost fought!"

"Two new lions?" Kovu cocked his head, "But nobody left the Outlands recently, and there aren't any other rogues in this area either; well, not as far as I know."

Vitani smiled smugly and nodded, "That's the thing, bro. Whoever these two are, they're from somewhere else. Where, that's still unknown. But you see, Simba allowed them to stay there!"

"What?" Kovu's eyes widened.

"I know, right? He'll allow two strange lions to stay, but our mom, who had lived there since Scar was the king, he kicked out. Whatever happened between mom and Simba must have been _pretty_ bad," Vitani bit her lip, "Anyway, she asked me to go there and try to find as much as I can about those two; to see what this is all about. Want to come?"

"I don't know," Kovu looked down, "If Nuka comes back and doesn't find me here he might go after me. He'll get mad at me."

"So, what if he does?" Vitani raised an eyebrow with a smile, "If he dares tell mom that you wandered into the Pride Lands, she's going to be mad at _him_ for not watching after you. Besides, I plan to be back before mom, so Nuka won't care if you were here or not."

Kovu smacked his lips as he thought through, "Well, alright! I might get to talk to Kiara this time-" He said as he looked up dreamingly, but shook his head back to reality when he remembered Vitani was there.

Kovu cleaned his throat and began walking as if he hadn't said that, "We should go then, you know, before it gets too late." He said and began running, clearly excited to go back to the Pride Lands.

"Right behind yah, little bro," Vitani smiled, "Right behind yah!"

* * *

 **About time the lions of the Outlands made their way here, hum? Sorry that it isn't Scar/Zira, that seems to be what most of you want to read, but we'll get there!**

 **Ok, so, getting my headcannons clear:**

 **\- Kovu and Vitani are siblings, their parents being lions who abandoned the Pride Lands when Scar was the king and then Zira took them in so that Scar could have suitable heirs to the throne since Nuka was extremely weak.**

 **\- No, I don't believe that Vitani is Nala and Scar's daughter. I don't believe Nala would let Scar touch her; she'd just run away before he could. I don't believe either Kovu or Vitani are Zira's kids either, because I don't think Zira would have kids with anyone else but Scar considering how in love with him she seemed to be in the movies, deleted scene and on the TLG episode she was in.**

 **\- Nuka is Scar and Zira's only child. He wasn't the chosen one because he was too weak because both of his parents were weak lions.**

 **Then again, this is all headcannon, and you're free to disagree and dislike any of them. I just ask you to be respectful - I don't mind when people have different headcannons, I think it's quite interesting actually, as long as it's not discussed in the form of harrassment.**

 **Either way, this fic reached 200 reviews and it became my most famous fic to date! Thank you all SO much for all the support! It does mean the world to me and keeps me going. See yah next chapter!**


	23. Ajali

**Hello, everyone! Sorry it's been a while. I had some college exams and also I have been in a terrible mood lately and not able to write at all. These past few days were an endless writer's block.**

* * *

As Kopa walked back to the Pride Rock, he did his best to avoid thinking about everything that had happened thus far; feeling as though he might go insane otherwise. The quiet, empty savannah around him eased that task, bringing peace to his mind.

But he was brought back to reality when he heard someone calling his name.

"Kopa!"

"Hum?" He stopped walking and tried to call back but forgot that he was holding the piece of meat in his mouth. He carefully dropped it in front of him and looked around, calling again, "Uh, hello? Anyone there?"

Only silence followed, and he seemed to be alone there. He raised an eyebrow but then shrugged it off, putting it down to having misheard something as much as he was sure of what he'd heard. Maybe he was even more stressed than he initially thought. Then he leaned down to grab the piece of meat again, only to realize it was no longer where he'd left it.

Kopa gasped in shock and confusion as he looked around again; his food being nowhere to be found. How could it be that it had just vanished? He hadn't heard nor seen anyone grabbing it – there wouldn't even have been time for someone to do that! How-?

"The kings of the past were correct!" A high-pitched, cheery voice said from above, "You did grow up to be a very mighty hunter indeed!"

Kopa's ears twisted and followed the voice's source, leading him to look up the tree beside him; and he spotted the voice's owner up there among the branches. It took him a while, but he soon recognized who that was.

"Rafiki? Is that you?" Kopa raised an eyebrow and then smiled softly when he saw the familiar friendly monkey, even forgetting about his missing meat for the moment.

"It sure is, Kopa! And look how much you've grown!" Rafiki exclaimed with a laugh as he jumped down the tree, holding his staff in one of his hands and approaching the young lion. "I didn't get to take a good look at you before, but now I see the kings were right about you!"

"Uh, what? Kings?" Kopa tilted his head while Rafiki walked in circles around him, analyzing the lion from head to tail.

"Wild mane, good muscle structure, shiny fur," Rafiki nodded in approval with a huge smile before he stood in front of Kopa, placing the end of his staff under the lion's chin and lifting Kopa's head in a swift move to analyze his face as well, "Bright eyes and strong teeth!" He said as he got too close for comfort, lifting Kopa's lips to look at his fangs.

"Uh," Kopa frowned, his smile disappearing as he stepped away from the monkey, pushing the staff away from his chin. He knew Rafiki was… unusual, to say the least, but those statements and that behavior were a bit too strange – even for him. "Thanks, I guess?"

"Words from the kings of the past, my boy, thank them!" Rafiki wrapped his arm around Kopa's neck, yanking him close, and pointed up at the sky, "They told me you'd grow strong and fierce; and they proved to be right once more!"

"Wait, fierce? Me? They really said that?" Kopa smiled hopefully.

"Yep, they sure did!" Rafiki nodded and stepped away from Kopa with a smile.

"And what else did they say?" Kopa leaned closer to Rafiki again, only for Rafiki to quickly hit him on the head with his staff, "Ow! Hey, what was that for?" He asked as he rubbed his pounding head.

"Curiosity killed the cat, young prince! And it could kill a lion, such as yourself, so be careful! That's all I can tell you, for now. Soon I shall be able to tell you more." The monkey told him with a look of disapproval and a shake of his head before he began walking away from Kopa.

Kopa scowled and rolled his eyes, suddenly becoming annoyed that he let himself get distracted like that by the crazy counselor who had only made him waste his time. "Whatever, then. I have to find my food anyway."

"Oh, oh, by the way," Rafiki stopped walking and held up a finger, turning on his heels to face Kopa again, "I just remembered there is something else they asked me to tell you."

"Sure, of course they did," Kopa said absent-mindedly, no longer paying attention to the monkey as he began his search.

"Ajali never blamed you."

Kopa's eyes widened and he gasped as his heart began racing. With his jaw hanging open, he looked back to where the monkey was, "How do you-"

But Rafiki was now gone.

"Rafiki?" Kopa called, looking around frantically and then up at the tree where he had found the monkey previously, but that time, he had no luck with it. "Rafiki! Come on, Rafiki! I need to know…"

The wind whistled and Kopa realized he was alone, and if he knew Rafiki, the monkey wasn't going to return any time soon. Just like he appeared out of nowhere, he disappeared into thin air. Kopa sat down and looked from side to side, trying to organize a coherent train of thought with the mess that formed in his mind.

"Ajali…" He whispered and closed his eyes, a lonely tear pricking his left eye, but he wiped it away before it could run down his cheek. He didn't want it to be apparent that he was on the verge of breaking down; even if no one could see him, he hated looking weak. So, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Once he opened his eyes again, he realized that his meat was right in front of him; seemingly having appeared out of nowhere. He was surprised, but just shook his head and sighed as he leaned down to grab it; deciding it was better not to question what had just happened and ignore it for the time being.

He'd have to wait until he saw Rafiki again to ask him about it. Or maybe he should just forget it altogether.

That wasn't a topic he was eager to talk about anyway.

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait," Tiifu held up her paw, interrupting Kiara's story, "You mean to tell me that that lion is your _brother_?"

"That's right, Tiifu," Kiara nodded and sighed, "Many years ago he went missing, and my father banished Scar's followers after their leader admitted to killing Kopa in revenge for Scar's death and nobody ever talked about him; until now."

"Uh, but he's pretty much alive," Zuri pointed out.

 _You don't say_ , Fuli thought to herself and rolled her eyes.

"We don't exactly know what happened yet. Kopa doesn't seem to be that eager to have a conversation." Kiara sighed again.

"And what was that about Scar, Taka, Asante, uh, you know who?" Tiifu asked.

"Yeah, Rafiki mentioned him to us," Fuli nodded, "He said that he survived the hyenas' attack and ran away, but everyone assumed he'd been killed that night."

"So, they both came back from the dead? That's freaky." Zuri stuck her tongue out.

"But wait," Fuli thought out loud, "If Kopa's alive, that obviously means he wasn't killed. But then, why would someone falsely confess to murdering him when that cost them their place here in the Pride Lands?"

"Uh," Kiara pondered, "That's actually a good question, Fuli. I… I hadn't thought of that. But if he's alive then that means…" She looked from side to side as she thought to herself before widening her eyes and gasping slightly.

Fuli, Zuri, and Tiifu exchanged confused glances before they looked back at Kiara.

"Kiara, what does it-"

"See you girls later," Kiara jumped up, "I have to talk to my dad!"

"Kiara!" Fuli called out, but the princess kept running towards the Pride Rock until she was out of sight; leaving her three confused friends behind.

* * *

"Ok, we're here!" Vitani said as she crouched down among the tall grass just before she entered the outskirts of the Pride Lands. Then she stood up and smiled proudly, "Easy as pie."

Kovu crawled by her side, heart pounding in his chest as he frantically looked around and refused to stand up.

"Careful, Vitani, someone might see you!" He whispered between his teeth.

"Ugh, will you relax?" Vitani rolled her eyes and poked him on the head, "There's no one here, just look around! We're miles away from where the animals roam, and even further away from the Pride Rock."

"Fine," He grunted as he slowly stood up, never letting his guard down. "I still think you should be more careful, though. You don't want to know how bad things went when Simba and mom saw Kiara and I together that time."

"Kovu, relax," She rolled her eyes and smiled again, "I've got this."

"Sure," He raised an eyebrow, "And what is your plan, exactly?"

"Hum," Vitani faltered for a moment, "Well, I, it depends on how things go. My main goal is to try to spot these new lions and gather information about them. Hopefully I'll be lucky enough to find them and to overhear something useful; though that's more wishful thinking than anything else. Hey, Kiara's bound to know what's going on, she's the princess after all!" She smiled smugly, "Maybe you can get her to reveal something to you!"

"What?" Kovu gave a step back, "No, I don't want to get involved! Besides, I'm not using Kiara like that, that, that'd be wrong! I don't want her to be part of mom's plan!" He stomped his paw.

Vitani sighed and frowned, "So you're not going to help me, hum?"

Kovu closed his eyes and turned his head away from her.

"Fine then," Vitani smiled as she began walking, "Let's see what mom will say when I tell her about your little escapades to the Pride Lands then…"

Kovu gulped, "Vitani!" He called before he ran to her side and stood in front of her, "That's really, really low!"

"I know," She replied calmly, "So, are you going to help me or not?"

Kovu scrunched his face before he sighed and gave in, "Fine."

"That's a good little brother," She patted him on the back and began walking again, "Now come here, this is what we're going to do."

* * *

"Kiara!"

The princess came to a halt when she heard someone calling her, looking back to where the voice had come from, only to find there wasn't anyone there.

"Uh," She looked from side to side, "Hello?"

"Kiara!" A whisper harshly called again, "Here!"

Kiara turned around and Kovu's head popped out of the tall grass for a brief second as he waved at her before he hid among the grass and got out of sight again.

"Kovu?" Kiara gasped in surprise and smiled before she jumped toward her friend, "Is that you?"

Kovu looked from side to side to make sure they were alone before he stood up and walked away from the grass, exposing himself to Kiara, "Sure is!"

Kiara's smile grew wilder as she approached him, "Kovu! Wow, I haven't seen you in so long! I think you've even gotten taller!" She looked at him up and down once, "Where have you been? I thought you'd forgotten about me."

"Never! I mean, sorry," Kovu took a deep breath and looked away, "Mom just wouldn't leave me alone and she makes me train almost every day now. It's been a little hard to sneak out. But today she went hunting, giving me a chance to see you again!"

"Well, I'm really glad then," She smiled and looked down, her cheeks getting warm, "I, I missed you."

Kovu mirrored her actions, "I missed you too."

He peeked up and his eyes met those of Kiara as they both looked away quickly and smiled shyly. He shook his head back to reality and cleaned his throat.

"But, yeah, hey!" He forced a giggle, remembering what Vitani had told him to do, "Hum, how have things been around here? Anything new, or exciting?"

"Well, I-" Kiara's smile vanished as she remembered what she was doing prior to meeting Kovu, "Oh, shoot."

Kovu tilted his head, "What's wrong?"

She sighed heavily, "Sorry, Kovu, I'd love to catch up and play but I have something really important I need to do right now. I have to go." She walked past him with her head down and a frown on her face. "But trust me, this will be good for you too!"

"What? What are you talking about?" He jogged to get to her side.

"Listen, I, I can't explain it right now, but you'll thank me later!" She said as she kept walking.

Kovu was confused, but he realized she was headed to the Pride Rock; he couldn't risk having her run into Vitani.

"But- Come on! I came here just to see you! Do you know what my mom would do if she found out about it? I'm risking being punished by being here!"

"Kovu, I can't explain right now, but you'll understand soon."

"Kiara," He heaved, "I don't know when the next time my mom goes hunting will be. This could be our last chance to hang out for a long while. You sure you can't do it later?" He pouted and looked up at her with sad eyes, "I missed you."

"Uh, I…" Kiara looked to the Pride Rock and then at the smiling cub next to her. Her heart replaced her head when she looked to his hopeful eyes, her cheeks getting warm once again. "Fine, I guess I can do it later. It's just some, uh, princess stuff. I'd rather hang out with you, anyway." She smiled at him.

"Great!" Kovu exclaimed and smiled, more excited than he meant to be. He looked down in embarrassment, "I mean, yeah, cool." His heart heaved in his chest when he thought of how he was distracting her for the sake of Vitani's plan, but he couldn't deny he was happy that he got to have her around.

Kiara giggled before she slowly approached him, eyes locked on his.

"Hum, Kiara?" Kovu shifted awkwardly, "What are you-"

"Tag, you're it!" She said, suddenly touching his chest and running away. Kovu shook his head, confused and caught off guard.

"Oh, you did not," He laughed happily before he jumped and began running after her, forgetting about the cares he had just a minute before.

* * *

 **Funny enough, Kovu and Kiara are my least favorite characters from The lion king 2, but I love them in TLG. So far they haven't interacted in the show, but I love the implied** **dynamic that they have. Seeing them interact/like each others as cubs made their relationship much more likeable to me.**

 **Ajali = accident; for those of you who might want to know.**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing/following this story guys, means so much! Your support has helped me greatly; especially when I have writer's block. Hope this was alright, see yah next chapter!**


	24. Badili

**Sorry but this is a short chapter. Please read the end notes for more details.**

* * *

"Mungu wangu!" Exclaimed an energetic voice that came from behind Kopa.

The young lion raised his eyebrow and turned around, which was when he saw a lion-like pale creature excitedly running towards him. They seemed friendly and happy, but he still dropped his meat and got his claws out just in case it turned out he needed to fight them.

As the cream-colored animal got closer and closer, Kopa could see that it wasn't a lion – its bright fur was dappled with brown rosettes outlined in black and the tail had no tuft at the end; a leopard of some sort perhaps. And once it got closer, Kopa could see that it was a male who smiled brightly.

"Wow! It's really you!" The leopard jumped up and down as he got closer, "You're really back!"

He attempted to get even closer to the lion and touch him, but Kopa backed out from him before he could; and it made him stop on his tracks. The leopard's smile faded, and he seemed confused.

"Kopa? What's wrong?" He asked with a broken voice, ears folding back against his head.

Kopa's eyebrows knitted together as he analyzed the leopard in front of him, making sure to keep his distance.

"Do I… know you?" He frowned further.

"Kopa!" The leopard's eyes widened, and he gasped, laying a paw over his chest with a genuinely sad expression, "You, you don't remember me?"

"Should I?" Kopa looked up, rummaging his mind for any clue as to who that might be but coming up with nothing, "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

"Kopa!" He pleaded, shaking his head, "It's me, Badili!"

Kopa's eyes widened when realization hit him, a smile quickly sprouting on his face.

"Badili?"

The leopard responded by quickly nodding in excitement, smiling as well.

Kopa let out a happy squeal before he ran towards the leopard and they bumped heads before sharing a hug, letting out yelps and laughing as they started circling each other to analyze one another.

"Wow, hey, what are you even doing here?" Kopa shook his head in disbelief, "Didn't you use to live in Mihiri Forest?"

"Oh, I do!" Badili nodded, "But the news of your arrival has been spreading like fleas in summer! When I heard that _Kopa_ had come back, I just had to come and see it for myself! I have been looking all over the Pride Lands for you, all day today!"

"Wait, what?" Kopa tilted his head, smile fading "You mean that the animals have been talking about me?"

"Of course!" Badili said like it was obvious, "The prince came back! Kopa is alive! We all thought you'd been killed off years ago, but nope, you're here!" He exclaimed so excitedly that his voice even cracked a couple times.

Kopa bit his lip and his ears folded back, eyes rolling up, "I… I'm not that big of a deal," He groaned under his breath.

"Man, you've grown!" Badili told him, looking up at Kopa's hair, his happiness making him oblivious to the lion's sudden sadness, "When did you even get a mane?"

Kopa laughed again and jumped up, getting more cheerful, "You're the one to talk, look at you! Last time we saw each other you were about this size!" He said and held his paw just a bit above the ground.

Badili laughed as well, "It surely has been a while! Wow, I hadn't seen you since…" He paused to think, and suddenly his smile faded, and he looked down, taking a deep breath, "Since Ajali…"

Kopa's eyes widened and his smile faded once more. "Oh. Yeah. I guess… I guess that was the last time we saw each other, hum?" He looked away from the leopard with a heaved sigh.

"It was." Badili sighed as well, "Remember how much fun we had that day? You were always so brave, and then there was me, I always got scared and ran back home to my mom," He laughed a bit under his breath before frowning again. He looked up at Kopa, "I came back here the next day to look for you… To talk about what happened, you know, but you were gone." He pointed out carefully, "For a while I thought they'd manage to catch you as well."

"Oh, please," Kopa scoffed, forcing a smile, "You know those brainless hyenas would never catch me!"

Badili smiled sadly and shook his head, "That's true. You were too brave and smart for them."

"I was _fierce_ ," Kopa corrected him, "But… I couldn't save her…" His eyes watered up and his heart began pounding against his chest, as though it was trying to escape him.

"I-It wasn't your fault," Badili approached him and gave him a sympathetic smile, "We, we were just young cubs- We didn't know any better. You can't blame yourself-"

"I never said I blamed myself!" Kopa straightened himself up and looked down at Badili with an angry frown, a low growl in his voice, "Because it was not my fault!"

Badili's eyes widened and he quickly shrank under the lion's gaze, bowing down "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to- I just meant that-" The leopard stuttered, hiding his head in his paws and running out of words.

Kopa shook his head and bit his lip – seeing his old friend scared because of him like that stung him. That was not what he meant to do – he never wanted to hurt any of his friends. But so many things were never meant to happen…

After a few seconds of silence, Badili peeked from behind one of his paws and saw that Kopa was no longer there before he spotted the lion going away from him.

"Kopa?" He stood up from the ground and called, but the lion ignored him, "Kopa!"

Badili stood appalled as Kopa merely kept walking, getting further and further away without ever looking back. The leopard sat down on the ground and merely watched it until the lion was out of sight.

"Oh, Kopa," He sighed and got up, looking to where his friend previously stood and then looking up at the sky, "You are right, it was not your fault. But I don't think you believe that."

* * *

Simba sat alone on the very edge of the Pride Rock, looking ahead with a distant expression as the wind ruffled his mane ever so lightly; so focused on his thoughts that he didn't even notice Nala was approaching him until she was right by his side.

"Simba?" She called, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He turned his head to her, blinking in surprise as he came back to reality, "Oh, Nala. Anything wrong?"

"No, not really, I was just watching you. You looked so lost in thought," She gave him a sympathetic smile, "What's troubling you?"

"Do you even have to wonder?" He raised an eyebrow, knowing that she already knew the answer to her own question.

"I don't, but I thought it was a good way to get you to talk about it," Nala giggled slightly and then sighed, "Have you gotten to talk to Kopa yet?"

Simba faced away from her, "No. Only Scar was there this morning. He said Kopa had gone hunting."

Nala nodded and stayed in silence besides her husband, they both staring ahead with thoughtful expressions.

"Amazing, isn't it," She commented, and Simba looked at her to wait for her to finish her sentence, "Our dead son came back to us."

Simba smiled, "Amazing, indeed. But it feels like he's still far from us, drifting further and further away… Into the darkness that is Scar's side." He finished his sentence with a low growl, "If I only I could get my claws on his-"

"Simba," She interrupted him with a sigh, "I hate Scar just as much as you do, believe me. I don't think anyone could ever forgive him, and I don't think he should be forgiven anyway. But…" Nala bit her lip, "If we need him on our side to get our son back, we might need to accept him here."

Simba squinted, "Are you suggesting that Scar-?"

"I'm saying that we might have to let him stay with no punishments," She pointed out carefully, "If we want Kopa to stay as well."

Simba opened his mouth to say something back, but took a deep breath and remained quiet instead, looking away from Nala with a frown. He knew she was right, as much as he hated to admit it.

Nala shook her head and sighed, turning away to leave Simba alone once more.

"We've already lost our son once, Simba," She looked back at her husband, "I don't want that to happen again."

Simba sighed and looked at her to reply, but when he turned his head, Nala was already gone.

* * *

 **If any of you don't remember, Badili is a character from TLG. He appeared back on season 1 and I thought he was such a cutie that I wanted to have him in this fic! So, I thought: since I needed Kopa to have a childhood friend, why not use somebody we already know? And ta-da!**

 **Now, about the chapter. It's really short and a bit of a filler (mostly wanted to introduce Badili - because yes, Badili will come back!) but that's because I've had MAJOR problems with this fic. You guys would not believe the amount of times I wrote a new chapter (Like, 5,000 words) and deleted it because it wasn't good enough.**

 **I now have around 5 drafts for the next one and I'm lost. I believe this is mostly due to writer's block and lack of ideas (Sorta, I know what will happen, I'm just confused as to how to write it, if that makes sense) but because it's been so long I wanted to give you guys something to read (sorry that it was such a crappy chapter) and to reassure you I've not abandoned this.**

 **That being said, I'd really like to hear from you what you think of this fic and what you expect to happen or what you want to happen! Seeing as I'm having a bit of a creative halt, it'd mean the world to read what you guys think and get to know your ideas/expectations. Please be aware that this is NOT me taking requests for plot points or story directions (I already know where this story will go and how it will end) but if your idea inspires me I just might put it in this fic! Don't worry, I'll properly credit if I do. But even if I don't do that, it'd inspire me greatly and motivate me to keep writing.**

 **I guess I'm just asking for help because I've hit a wall – and I want to be able to write more and write well, for me and for everyone enjoying this. Don't wanna let you down!**

 **Well, as much as this chapter sucked, I hope you still liked it, and I hope you'll let me know what you think! Thank you so so much to anyone who helps me, and thanks to anyone who reads this – just that already means the world to me. See yah!**


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